Buildings destroyed, trees down after tornadoes in SW MI

PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) — Residents are dealing with the damage following multiple tornadoes in southwest Michigan.

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Most of the damage happened in the Portage area in Kalamazoo County and in Centreville in St. Joseph County.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency Tuesday night for Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Branch and Cass Counties. That frees up state resources to help local authorities clean up and rebuild.

CENTREVILLE TORNADO

Storm Team 8 tracked a tornado in the Centreville area around 5:50 p.m. St. Joseph County dispatch confirmed to News 8 a potential tornado touched in Centreville.

At Main Street and Eleanor Drive in Centreville, a News 8 crew saw uprooted trees and debris from the peeled-off roof of nearby Nottawa Gas Company scattered through the area.

“They just moved back here within the year or so, and they sustained some pretty heavy damage on all their buildings back here,” St. Joseph County Undersheriff Jason Bingaman told News 8. “We’ll have to see what the overall damage is, but they’ve got extensive damage.”

He said several buildings, both residential and commercial, have been damaged. There have been no reports of fatalities or serious injuries, he said, and first responders are working to make sure people are safe.

“At this moment, we are doing all life-saving missions we can, just to make sure that people are safe and secure. Obviously, there’s a large area that’s damaged. So it’s going to take us a little bit of time get those assessments and then we’ll shift into damage assessment, probably on some buildings and things like that,” Bingaman said.

Neighbor Darline Trine said it came up quick.

“I didn’t even think it was happening. I was sitting at the kitchen table and talking to my son. I kept hearing the wind blowing and hollering. I said, ‘Hang on, I got to shut the window because the stuff was blowing off my table. I shut the window and I started seeing stuff fly past it. Trampoline, green houses, ball hoops, everything. Everything started going, and when it calmed down, I looked out and here we are,” Trine said.

PORTAGE TORNADOES

In Portage, Storm Team 8 tracked a large tornado around 6 p.m. Around 7:30 p.m., another tornado warning was issued for Kalamazoo County, a tornado touched down and Storm Team 8 tracked that twister as it cut through the area.

A News 8 crew on scene in the Portage area saw significant damage to a FedEx facility. The roof was damaged, as were multiple loading docks. No one was seriously hurt in the facility, according to Portage Police Chief Nick Armold. While he did not have an estimate on the number of employees that were in the facility at the time, Armold said all employees have been accounted for.

The building opened in May of 2022 on Portage Road and was double the size of the company’s former ship center on Sprinkle Road, according to the facility’s senior manager when it opened. More than 400 employees worked there at its opening two years ago.

Jeff Nazarians, who lives nearby, said he has never seen rain switched directions so fast.

“We just saw everything was just spinning and the water on the ground was spinning. So we just ran to the bathroom That’s what we did, we just took shelter. But now coming out everything is a mess. It’s crazy,” he said.

At Pavilion Estates, a mobile home park in the Portage area, people walked through a field to get into the park, which was blocked off. Storm Team 8 saw multiple first responders on scene, including three ambulances.

Many people were displaced and gathered at a nearby gas station. The park is blocked off, and residents tell News 8 the facility is trying to contain a gas leak and look for anyone who may be injured in the debris.

“It is absolute destruction in there. And there are trailers completely gone. There are trees down … There are gonna be a lot of people with no homes tonight,” said resident Taylor Kuehl. “It shows the force of nature and how quick it can change and unfortunately, you know a lot of families in here just trying to make day by day survival and they just lost everything.”

Armold said there were no serious injuries in the city as of 10 p.m. City workers are using drones and manpower and will go door-to-door making sure residents are safe.

The City of Portage has set up two shelters for those who were displaced by the tornadoes:

• First Assembly of God, 555 Oakland Drive — 100-person capacity

• Radiant Church, 995 Romence Road — 100-person capacity

Anyone who needs assistance can call 1.800.RED.CROSS.

At the Portage Pizza Hut at Oakland Drive and Centre Avenue, the roof collapsed and the building had significant damage. No injuries were reported, likely because of assistant manager Nate Davis’ quick thinking.

“My cook’s trying to hold the front door shut, so I yelled for everybody to get in the walk-in cooler. And as I’m running towards the walk-in, the ceiling’s just coming apart on all of us,” he said.

There are also several trees down in the area, and viewer video shows damage to other businesses in the Portage area.

Jude’s Barbershop location on Centre Road was hit by the reported tornado, according to a social media post.

“Luckily, everyone is safe,” Jude’s Barbershop wrote.

The Portage Department of Public Safety is asking people to avoid travel in the city. Portage Mayor Patricia M. Randall issued an emergency declaration. The city recommended Portage residents shelter in place and check on their neighbors.

The areas of tightest rotation were captured on radar.

The first tornado’s path, which likely caused more significant damage, was most pronounced in Portage. There was a possible touchdown in parts of northern Cass County and southern Van Buren County. The second tornado’s path most likely caused damaged in the Centreville area and north of Colon.

Around 6:15 p.m., a tornado emergency was issued for Union City in Branch County. A tornado emergency is a rare, severe warning.

The storms and tornadoes caused power outages in West Michigan. The Consumers Energy map shows 24,594 customers in Michigan without power. The following West Michigan counties had more than 100 Consumers Energy customers without power as of 4:30 a.m. Wednesday:

• Branch County: 565

• Calhoun County: 162

• Kalamazoo County: 18,773

• Kent County: 447

• St. Joseph County: 3,943

• Van Buren County: 411

Bingaman reminded people to stay away from downed power lines. If you see one, assume it is energized and call 911 and Consumers Energy at 800.477.5050.

Portage Public Schools announced it would close the district as well as Curious Kids and Prime Time Childcare on Wednesday so families and the community could “begin to recover from tonight’s storms,” it wrote in a social media post. “Be safe and take care.”

The Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Center in Portage will be closed Wednesday after storms knocked out power. The museum is also experiencing water damage.

“Staff are working to clear downed trees, repair roof leaks, and clean up water damage … Staff and volunteers are asked to check in before reporting for duty or aid in storm clean up,” the Air Zoo wrote in a news release.

— News 8’s Anna Skog, Blake Harms and Katie Rosendale contributed to this report.

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