Gaylord, Michigan (AP) – A rare tornado in northern Michigan devastated a small community Friday, killing one and injuring more than 40 from overturned vehicles, collapsed building roofs, and collapsed trees and power line. .
The Twister crashed in Gaylord, a city of about 4,200 people, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northwest of Detroit around 3:45 p.m.
Mike Clepadlo, who owns an auto repair shop in Alter-Start North, said he and his workers were covered in the bathroom.
“I am just happy that I am alive. “He blew up the back of the building,” he said. “Twenty feet (6 meters) of the back wall was lost. The whole roof is missing. And at least half of the building is here. it’s bad “.
15-year-old Emma Goddard said she was working at Tropical Smoothie Cafe when she received a phone alert of a tornado. Thinking that the weather outside was “stormy but not horrible,” he denied it and went back to what he was doing. Then my mom called and assured my mom that she’s fine.
Two minutes later, he was pouring a smoothie for customers when his colleague’s mother called them back to the building, Goddard told The Associated Press via text message. They hid in a basement refrigerator where they could hear cracked windows.
“I was huddled next to seven of my colleagues, two of my colleagues’ parents and a woman from Door Dash, who were coming to pick up her smoothie.”
When they left the refrigerator about 15 minutes later and got out, they saw “some of our vehicles were damaged and insulated all over the place,” Godard said. He said three neighboring businesses were destroyed.
Brian Lawson, a spokesman for Munson Healthcare, said Otsego Memorial Hospital was treating 23 people injured in the tornado and one person died. He did not know the condition of the wounded and the identity of the deceased.
The Michigan State Patrol confirmed that one person was killed and claimed on Twitter that more than 40 people were injured and being treated at hospitals in the region. The patrol would have held a briefing on Saturday morning.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” Mayor Todd Charard said. “I am numb.”
A video posted on the Internet showed a cloud of dark matter incarnate from the cloud as nervous drivers watched or ran slowly, unsure of the way.
Other videos showed severe damage to the town’s main road. Apparently one of the buildings almost collapsed and the Goodwill Shop was badly damaged. The collapsed net pole lay on the side of the road and debris, which seemed to include power lines and parts of a marathon gas station, were scattered all over the street.
The Red Cross built a shelter near the church.
Brand Sloan, 42, said he and his teenage daughter were seeking safety in an underground bathroom. The windows of a fast-food restaurant exploded when they appeared, as his pickup truck was thrown from the roof into the parking lot.
“We are proud of ourselves, but we are thankful that we are safe. “Right now, who cares about the truck,” the slogan said.
Eddie Tresher, 55, said he was sitting in his car outside an auto parts store when a tornado appeared above him.
“There are roofs that have been removed for companies, a number of industrial buildings,” Trasher said. “The camps were overturned and destroyed. “A lot of ambulances came from the east of the city.”
He said he ran to the store to get it.
“My adrenaline is running high,” Trescher said. “Less than five minutes done.”
Extreme winds are rare in this part of Michigan because large lakes absorb energy from storms, especially in early spring when the lakes are very cold, said Jim Caesor, Gaylord meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“A lot of kids and teens wouldn’t experience direct bad weather if they had lived with Gaylord their entire lives,” she said.
The last time Gaylord had a major storm was in 1998, when straight-line winds reached 100 mph, Caesar said. He said the conditions that triggered the chirp on Friday included a cold facade moving out of Wisconsin and blowing hot, humid air into Gaylord, along with the addition of an under-atmospheric wind turbine with added substance.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency in Ocego County, making additional state resources available in the country.
Gaylord, known as the “Alpine Village”, will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year with a centenary that will include a parade and open doors to the town hall at the end of the summer.
The community also hosts the annual Alpenfest in July, an Alpine-inspired festival that honors the city’s heritage and partnership with its sister city Switzerland.
White reported from Detroit. AP reporters Corey Williams contributed in Detroit, Ken Kusmer in Indianapolis, Sarah Burnett in Chicago, and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis.
Source: Huffpost
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