KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — Tuesday evening brought severe weather to the majority of West Michigan. The greater Kalamazoo area saw some of the worst of that weather with multiple tornadoes touching down and over a dozen hurt.
Seven tornadoes were reportedly spotted across the Midwest region, four of which were reportedly in Michigan. The National Weather Service (NWS) is now releasing their survey on one of the reported tornadoes, which hit the Portage area.
The NWS said the tornado that hit the Portage area was confirmed as an EF2. Its estimated peak wind speed was 135 mph, its path reached about eight miles and its width was approximately 300 yards.
They said the tornado touched down near the intersection of South 10th Street and West R Avenue. It traveled east/northeast for around 11 miles before lifting north of East N Avenue just West of 31st Street.
Pavilion Estates Mobile Home Park in Portage was one of the hardest-hit areas, with entire homes destroyed.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office said about 176 homes were damaged, and about 15 were destroyed in that mobile home park community.
While there were no significant injuries to those who were inside those homes at the time, authorities said there were about 16 to 20 people who had non-life-threatening injuries.
"We recognize that this tornado appears to have come across from the part of Texas Township across the city of Portage into Pavilion Township. There is significant damage all along Centre Avenue, which is being handled by the city of Portage, as well as into Pavilion Township, and the Pavilion Estates Mobile Home Park there," the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office said late Tuesday.
There are multiple scenes across Kalamazoo County with heavy damage, especially on Westnedge Avenue, Centre Street and Oakland Drive with power lines down and debris in the road.
"Homes in the roadway. We found homes in neighbor's homes. We found large trees in homes. We found many vehicles that have been smashed by large trees or homes. We're finding again, no one in these vehicles," the sheriff's office said. "One of the things that I found, when I'm talking to residents out there as we were going in the area door-to-door, we were able to find out that they were people paying attention, paying attention to the weather service information. That was a huge success in knowing that our community pays attention to the weather services."
While the community is dealing with the damage from the storms, the Portage Department of Public Safety asked people to avoid traveling to the area.
Portage Mayor Patricia Randall declared an emergency to secure resources from the State of Michigan and the federal government.
Portage Public Schools announced schools will be closed on Wednesday, May 8 to allow families and the community to recover after the storms.
"My heart goes out to all those affected by tonight’s severe weather in southwest Michigan. Emergency teams are on the ground and working to assist Michiganders. I encourage everyone to continue monitoring severe weather alerts and follow the advice of emergency officials," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.
Kalamazoo County Emergency Management is asking residents with damage to share their reports through an online survey. This will help emergency managers and cleanup crews better assess the damage, and speed up their response.
You can find the link here.
With homes destroyed, that leaves many people displaced. Through the American Red Cross, the City of Portage identified this shelter:
- First Assembly of God at 5550 Oakland Drive
You can call 1-800-RED CROSS for help.
If Portage residents need assistance with sheltering or other human service needs, you can call 211. Residents with questions about city services like brush pickup or clean-up assistance can call 269-329-4444.
Jude's Barbershop in Portage posted to Facebook sharing the damage to their shop and reported nobody was injured.
Viewers from the Kalamazoo area sent in photos and videos showing some of the damage the storms left behind.
Photos included debris such as trees, powerlines and large branches down. They also shared shots of roofs torn off buildings, car crashes, damage to buildings and more.
The damage from the storms also left tens of thousands without power on Tuesday evening. At 6:45 p.m., Consumers Energy reported over 25,000 people without power. We'll be continuing to update outages here.
Bronson Medical Hospital, located in Downtown Kalamazoo told 13 ON YOUR SIDE they were assessing injuries with their team but could not elaborate further.
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