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National Weather Service's preliminary surveys of northern Kent County show damage consistent with EF-1 tornado

The National Weather Service is in northern Kent County and northeast Ingham County to determine if tornadoes touched down in those two locations Thursday.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After severe storms left large swaths of damage across half of the state, the National Weather Service (NWS) is surveying the damage in two locations to determine if tornadoes touched down.

The NWS is looking at damage in northern Kent County and northeast Ingham County for evidence of tornadoes.

NWS officials is examining EF-scale ratings and dimensions of the damage path to determine whether or not a tornado occurred.

Friday morning, NWS preliminary surveys of northern Kent County found damage consistent with an EF-1 tornado.

Officials said that the Ingham County surveys will take longer to complete and preliminary details may not be available until early to mid afternoon Friday.

While surveying the damage around Ingham County, the NWS says they found damage consistent with at least an EF-1 in Livingston County. That report came from the Detroit NWS office.

These are preliminary assessments of the damage and don't confirm tornado activity. Final assessments will me announced later Friday or on Saturday.

The surveying of the damage may take some time and NWS will provide information from the field as it becomes available.

Credit: National Weather Service

Officials said the storm brought wind gusts reaching up to 75 mph. The winds tore roofs from homes, downed trees and powerlines, and shut down roads and freeways.

The storms also contributed to five deaths across Kent, Ingham and Eaton counties.

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