Gaylord, Michigan

2022 - 5 - 21

Post cover
Image courtesy of "WZZM13.com"

Gaylord, Michigan tornado causes significant damage (WZZM13.com)

National weather service employees would later observe the tornado as well and that "lots of damage being reported around Gaylord."

Post cover
Image courtesy of "CNN"

Michigan tornado causes 'catastrophic' damage - CNN (CNN)

A tornado quickly moved through Gaylord in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, on Friday afternoon, according to Lt. Jim Gorno of the Michigan ...

"We don't have sirens like in other parts of the country." : "Trees and power lines blocking roadways. Emergency crews are responding."

Post cover
Image courtesy of "USA TODAY"

Injuries, damage reported after tornado tears through town in ... (USA TODAY)

Ambulances were taking injured people to hospitals, though no deaths were confirmed, the State Police said.

"To the entire Gaylord community — Michigan is with you," she said. One building appeared to be largely collapsed and a Goodwill store was badly damaged. "There are roofs ripped off businesses, a row of industrial-type warehouses," Thrasher said. The whole roof is missing. Lawson said the pace of people being brought to the hospital had slowed by Friday evening. Traffic lights stopped working and emergency vehicles are the only ones around.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

One dead, 23 injured by tornado that ripped through Gaylord, Mich. (The Washington Post)

State Police confirmed the death from Friday afternoon's twister, which damaged the city about two and a half hours north of Lansing.

As it moved into Gaylord, the Weather Service warned of a “a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado.” It urged residents to take cover. “To the entire Gaylord community — Michigan is with you. “My heart goes out to the families and small businesses impacted by the tornado and severe weather in Gaylord,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) tweeted.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Detroit News"

Tornado touches down near Gaylord, homes, businesses damaged (The Detroit News)

Michigan State Police asked the public to avoid the Gaylord area as emergency crews respond after a tornado touched down there on Friday afternoon.

The clash of those air masses occurred over Michigan and we had a turning of the winds in the atmosphere, which … gave us everything we needed, ingredient-wise, for the tornado to occur." "The last big direct-impact severe weather event was Sept. 1998, when there was significant damage with 100 mph straight-line winds." He worked at a business within walking distance of the Hobby Lobby where meteorologists believe the tornado first landed forcefully. There’s going to be a lot of support.” "We had a fairly strong cold front coming in from Wisconsin that had cooler air behind it. A weather service storm team was assessing the damage Friday, he said. He even stepped outside the truck repair shop where he works to record the storm with his cell phone. “That’s when I saw the big swirl in my rearview mirror.” Feole and her children safely arrived home, several miles from downtown, but was worried about her husband, David, who she had been FaceTiming with when the tornado hit. I just know we’re going to rebuild. We will do what it takes to rebuild." Otsego Memorial is part of the Munson Healthcare system.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Globalnews.ca"

1 dead after rare tornado rips through northern Michigan town ... (Globalnews.ca)

Police said ambulances took injured people to hospitals after the tornado barreled through Gaylord, a city of about 4200 people roughly 370 kilometers ...

There were a lot of emergency vehicles heading from the east side of town.” The last time Gaylord had a severe wind storm was in 1998, when straight-line winds reached 100 mph, Keysor said. Other video showed extensive damage along the city’s Main Street. One building appeared to be largely collapsed and a Goodwill store was badly damaged. Brian Lawson, a spokesman for Munson Healthcare, said Gaylord-Otsego Memorial Hospital was treating 23 people who were injured by the tornado and that one person was killed. “There are roofs ripped off businesses, a row of industrial-type warehouses,” Thrasher said. It blew the back off the building,” he said.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "WDIV ClickOnDetroit"

At least 1 killed, 44 injured when tornado touched down in Gaylord ... (WDIV ClickOnDetroit)

At least one person has died and 44 others were injured when a tornado touched down in Gaylord, Michigan on Friday, according to Gaylord Mayor Todd Sharrad.

“Well my heart was racing, I was very nervous because I had actually never seen a tornado before and never seen it in action with debris so I was pretty nervous. “So we don’t really know we don’t know the magnitude yet,” said Jim Keysor, of NWS. “We have a storm survey team out right now. We’re Michiganders, and we’re tough, resilient, and we’ve been through a lot of tough stuff together, especially in the last few years, and we will get through this.” “It’s been a tough week for Northern Michigan,” said Whitmer. “We’ve had the fire of the blue lake to today’s tornado right here in Gaylord, and I know it’s going to be a tough weekend for families here. NWS officials said they will be surveying the damage Friday afternoon and evening. MDOT also reported that debris were tossed onto nearby roads, including M-32. Drivers are asked to drive with caution in the area.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "CBC.ca"

Deadly tornado damages homes, knocks out power in Michigan ... (CBC.ca)

A rare northern Michigan tornado tore through a small community on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 40 others as it flipped ...

"There are roofs ripped off businesses, a row of industrial-type warehouses," Thrasher said. Other video showed extensive damage along the city's Main Street. One building appeared to be largely collapsed and a Goodwill store was badly damaged. Brian Lawson, a spokesperson for Munson Healthcare, said Gaylord-Otsego Memorial Hospital was treating 23 people who were injured by the tornado and that one person was killed. The patrol planned to hold a briefing Saturday morning. "I've never seen anything like this in my life," Mayor Todd Sharrard said. They took shelter in the walk-in cooler, where they could hear windows shattering. Her mother then called and she assured her mom she was OK. Three neighbouring businesses were destroyed, she said. At least half the building is still here. Thinking the weather outside looked "stormy, but not scary," she dismissed it and returned to what she was doing. The whole roof is missing. "I'm lucky I'm alive.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "mlive.com"

'Avoid the Gaylord area' Michigan State Police say after tornado ... (mlive.com)

Homes and businesses are damaged and trees are across roads.

An NWS survey team was being sent out today to check conditions on the ground. Very quickly after the storm passed through, NWS staff said damage was reported on the ground. The tornado was confirmed by radar and by an NWS employee who spotted it just before 4 p.m. At the time, the storm was described as having a massive wall of clouds and was moving at 50 mph.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "SaultOnline.com"

“Catastrophic” Damage in Gaylord Michigan Following Tornado ... (SaultOnline.com)

The same storm system that prompted Environment Canada to issue a severe thunderstorm warning for the Sault and area , produced a devastating tornado in ...

Heavy damage was being reported on homes and especially businesses along the highway M-32 “Catastrophic” damage is being reported in the western section of the town. The tornado is being investigated by National Weather Services.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "WDIV ClickOnDetroit"

What to know about the tornado that touched down Friday in Gaylord (WDIV ClickOnDetroit)

At least one person has died, and 44 others were injured when a tornado touched down in Gaylord, Michigan on Friday, according to Gaylord Mayor Todd ...

I didn’t even make it down to the worst part, but it was like driving around a warzone.” The E-Free church housed about 10 people as cleanup was underway the night of the natural disaster. Let’s all hug our families a little tighter, and let’s all work together to rebuild and recover from this storm together.” We are resilient. And then I kind of went down in town just a little ways and started to see all the damage to the buildings. “I saw power poles snapped in half,” said Pastor Scott Distler. “You basically had to navigate like a warzone.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "CNN"

Michigan tornado: Governor declares state of emergency after ... (CNN)

Two people are dead after a powerful tornado ripped roofs off buildings and flipped cars in a northern Michigan town on Friday, prompting the governor to ...

We will do what it takes to rebuild." "There had been trailers picked up and turned over on top of each other and, you know, just a very large debris field from the trailers." "I imagine it was deafening for those in its path," Smith said. "It took out an insane amount of buildings and just jeopardized so many lives," said Jordan Awrey, a Gaylord city council member. "My heart goes out to the families and small businesses impacted by the tornado and severe weather in Gaylord," she said on social media. Roads were also blocked by downed trees and powerlines.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "NPR"

At least 2 people were killed in a rare tornado that hit northern ... (NPR)

GAYLORD, Mich. — A second person died in a rare tornado that hit a small community in northern Michigan, state police said Saturday. The person was in their ...

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

Two Killed, Dozens Injured in Rare Northern Michigan Tornado (The New York Times)

The deaths were reported in a mobile home park on the outskirts of Gaylord, where crews continued to search the wreckage on Saturday.

Crews continued to look on Saturday for a person who was reported missing from another part of the region. One of them was found overnight Friday during a search of the mobile home park with a cadaver dog. “Up here, stuff like this doesn’t happen,” said Joshua Comoford, 22, who was handing out drinks to firefighters and volunteers on Saturday at the mobile home park. As cleanup began on Saturday, and as more than 40 people were treated for injuries, officials struggled to make sense of the damage in a region where tornadoes are rare. Mr. Clayton said he had heard about the coming storm only because of a call from his older brother, Declan, who was at a Meijer gas station just down the street and saw swirling winds and circling birds in the sky. Smashed bricks and shattered plywood were strewn outside the entrance of a Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Detroit News"

EF3 tornado that hit Gaylord had winds reaching 150 mph (The Detroit News)

The weather service earlier indicated top wind speeds of 140 mph. The twister ranks 16th in injuries and 21st in fatalities in Michigan since 1950, according to ...

“The two fatalities, for example, with this event in Gaylord occurred in that trailer park, and that's just a function of those structures just not being very good at withstanding strong winds,” Keysor said. “This is the fifth tornado to ever be recorded in the county since 1950, but the other previous four none of them actually impacted Gaylord,” he said. “The state of Michigan, we don't get that many tornadoes in general compared to other parts of the country,” Keysor said. And we have a lot of homes." "So the tornado that happened to hit the western parts of Gaylord — a mile further west, for example, it probably doesn't hardly impact anybody. “There are a lot of automobiles damaged,” he said. “If you look at the historical database we go through many, many years, sometimes decades without seeing a death from a tornado. “This is pretty rare.” We want them to know that everyone in Michigan is going to wrap their arms around those families,” he said, from a lectern at Kirtland Community college, wearing dark jeans and a blue button down shirt. He said officials were working hard to get power and internet back on, and he also reminded impacted residents to call 911 in case of emergencies. Many streetlights along the main thoroughfare in Gaylord were back on by Saturday afternoon. “This is pretty rare.”

Explore the last week