Two people died and more than 40 others were injured after a tornado tore through a mobile home park in the US.
The tornado hit Gaylord, a town of about 4,200 people about 230 miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan on Friday.
In an area where tornadoes are rare, the National Weather Service said winds of up to 140 mph were reported.
Fire Chief Chris Martin said the houses had been “lifted and overturned”, leaving only “a very large field of debris”.
He added: “The crews are currently in there to do a secondary search with heavy equipment.
“There’s probably 95 percent destruction in there.”
Initially, police said one person was dead, but they have now confirmed a second person, in his 70s, has also died.
Lt State Police Derrick Carroll said the man was in his 70s and lived in Nottingham mobile home park, one of the first sites hit by the tornado on Friday.
State Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for the county, providing additional state resources for further clarification.
The remains of a charity shop. Photo: Associated Press
Gaylord Police Chief Frank Claeys said the moments immediately following the tornado were difficult for first responders.
“We looked in places where we knew the inhabitants. We called them by name,” he said. “It’s a lot more personal for our officers to know the people who live in those homes.”
Extreme spring winds are not common because the Great Lakes draw energy from hurricanes, especially early in the season when the lakes are very hot, said Jim Keysor, a meteorologist at Gaylord of the National Weather Service. cold.
“Many children and young adults would never have experienced any direct inclement weather if they had lived in Gaylord all their lives,” he said.
