MICHIGAN, USA — Cleanup has started in many southwest Michigan communities following powerful storms Tuesday morning.
In St. Joseph County, the roof was reportedly ripped off of Team Manufacturing and Supply in Three Rivers.
Our crew spotted debris around North Main Street, north of the city's center.
Several customers reported seeing a tornado Tuesday morning, Midwest Energy & Communications reports. They say the areas hit hardest with outages are in the townships of Porter, Decatur, Flowerfield, Paw Paw, Prairie Ronde and Fabius.
In Cass County, Marcellus also saw damage. Many trees were down around Lewis Lake Road and Marcellus Road.
In Kalamazoo County, the Schoolcraft area saw high water across roads and downed trees.
Earlier in the morning, a few thousand people across the West Michigan region were without power, according to Consumers Energy's outage map.
The National Weather Service warned several storms early Tuesday morning were severe, and also issued multiple tornado warnings. The severe weather threat pushed out of West Michigan before noon and there is currently no weather threat for the rest of Tuesday.
Severe storms cause damage across Michigan
Midwest Energy crews have found around 14 broken power poles so far. They say to stay at least 50 feet away from any downed power lines at all times.
Staying Weather Aware
In case of severe weather, you should have multiple ways to stay weather aware and receive critical weather information:
1. NOAA Weather Radio
The first is NOAA Weather Radio. We often refer to them as the “smoke detector” for severe weather, because they will automatically sound an alarm in the case of a natural disaster or severe weather.
2. Local Broadcast
There is also always your local TV station. The 13 ON YOUR SIDE Weather Department streams on-air and online during an active storm.
Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now. When you open the app, you can enable your location to be sent active alerts in your area.
You can see the latest severe weather alerts here.
3. Radio Station
Local radio stations should alert you if a storm is in your area. You can even set up devices like Alexa and Google Home to alert you with weather notifications.
4. Smartphone
Your smartphones also offer numerous ways to receive critical weather alerts. We have a 13 ON YOUR SIDE Weather App that will allow you to track the storm and receive alerts.
Download our weather app from the App Store for Apple Devices or for your Android device here.
5. Nixle Alerts
- Nixle is a FREE comprehensive warning system designed for rapid dissemination of alerts and public information to a variety of public mechanisms.
- Alerts and emergency information are received via text, email, web, and social media in real time for localized emergency situations relevant to the community.
- To register for NIXLE ALERTS
- Text your Zip Code to 888777
- Sign up and create a user profile at https://local.nixle.com/register/
6. Outdoor Sirens
Outdoor sirens are also an option, as they will go off in the threat of immediate danger, but are only meant to be heard outdoors. So, if you are inside, this should not be how you receive your severe weather alerts. Outdoor sirens can also be unreliable, difficult for those hard of hearing and go off for other reasons beyond tornadoes.
NOAA Weather Radios:
- Are designed for All-Hazards Warning and can be modified to alert those with special needs including deaf and hard of hearing, blind, etc.
- Are programmed to notify you of hazards within your area including tornados, severe thunderstorms, straight-line winds, downbursts, hail, hazardous materials spills, floods, etc.
- Will give you specific information about the storm and emergency protective measures you should take.
- Are set off automatically through local NOAA Weather Radio Towers when a warning is issued. Notifications occur within seconds of the warning.
- Are battery operated and will work when there is no power. Some models are handheld while others are also an AM/FM radio and alarm clock.
- On average, cost $20.00 per unit. Units are no more expensive to maintain than smoke detectors.
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