Severe storms that spawned destructive tornadoes leave 8 dead across the Central US
By CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Sydney Bishop, CNN
(CNN) — Severe storms brought damaging tornadoes to parts of the central US Thursday and Friday, shredding buildings into piles of debris and killing at least eight people.
The severe weather threat that started Wednesday will largely wind down after Saturday.
A smattering of severe storms threatens central Texas to the lower Mississippi Valley, Memphis and other portions of western Tennessee, Alabama, and parts of the Great Lakes – including Cleveland and Pittsburgh — with large hail, damaging winds and possible tornadoes Saturday.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for areas of Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia until 8 p.m. ET.
Competing air masses with record temperatures in the East and the cooler weather behind an elongated cold front are fueling the severe weather threat.
Deadly tornadoes hit Michigan and Oklahoma
Among the more than a dozen reports of tornadoes, several were confirmed in America’s heartland.
In southwestern Michigan Friday afternoon, four people were killed and others injured as severe thunderstorm activity kicked up a destructive tornado, which was rated an EF-3 with winds up to 150 mph, according to NEXLAB, the College of DuPage Meteorology program.
Three were killed and 12 others injured when the tornado ripped through the Union Lake area, the Branch County Sheriff’s Office told The Associated Press. Several people were sent to the hospital, the AP said, although the extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
Patricia Polacco, Union City resident and well-known children’s book author and illustrator of over 115 books, posted resources for those needing help in her area.
An elementary school staple and one of Polacco’s most beloved books, “Thunder Cake,” is about a grandmother helping a child cope with her fear of storms during the Michigan summers.
“For the most part, my town is intact, which almost makes it harder to look at. My home, my studio, my barn and surrounding buildings where I live … are all still standing,” she said in a video uploaded to her Facebook.
“Thank you all for your concern and say prayers, especially for those families that have just endured the most horrifying loss of their life.”
Another person was killed and several others injured after the tornado touched down in nearby Cass County, officials said in a news release. Several large structures were damaged and a local state of emergency was enacted, they added.
The tornado was fueled by a lone supercell thunderstorm and was tagged with a rare “particularly dangerous situation” designation by the National Weather Service as it tracked near Three Rivers, Michigan.
The State Emergency Operations Center was activated after damage was reported in Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties, Michigan State Police said.
A tornado in the Three Rivers area launched fragments of buildings into the air and peeled large sections of the roof off a storage facility, video shows. It’s unclear if anyone was injured. CNN has reached out for more information.
“There’s roofs off, there’s trees down, power lines everywhere,” Three Rivers resident Shanna Ortiz told CNN affiliate WWMT.
The mother was picking up her daughter from day care when she heard sirens and the day care told everyone to stay inside, Ortiz said.
“We all went into the bathroom together and we started singing songs, playing games. But we were praising God,” she said. “We felt our ears pop and heard a loud noise.”
Amber Jaseph saw the tornado bearing down on them as she rushed to pick up her baby from the day care.
“We look out the window and we saw the tornado go right down this strip,” she told WWMT, her voice shaking with emotion as she readjusted her squirming baby in her arms. “That’s where my daughter is, where my parents are, where I live down the road.”
“I was just very grateful that God protected my daughter and my mom and sister, my family.”
Also in Three Rivers, Nelson Storms was at home when the tornado hit and was able to take cover “just in the nick of time.”
“Soon as I took steps down the basement, the whole house just started getting shredded to pieces,” he told WWMT.
In Union City, east of Union Lake, video shows massive pieces of debris flying in the air as someone in the background says, “There goes a house.”
On Friday, another round of dangerous storms killed two people in Beggs, Oklahoma, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office said.
As of late Friday, “all persons are accounted for and there are no more missing persons,” Sheriff Eddy Rice said in a statement.
“We’re just getting everywhere as fast as we can, clearing roads as fast as we can,” Okmulgee County’s emergency manager Jeff Moore told AP, adding there has been a 4-mile path of damage left in the area.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said he had spoken with Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols and Beggs Mayor Roger Merrill following tornadoes in their communities.
“We are committed to assist with their recovery efforts,” he said on Facebook.
The governor declared a state of emergency for several counties Saturday morning, urging residents to report storm damage and “jump in to help your neighbors if you’re able.”
In Tulsa, glass and debris was strewn across one of Tulsa Tech’s campuses, the sheriff’s office said.
“Deputies are working with Tulsa Tech officials to lock down and secure the campus due to public safety concerns,” the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.
Fallen trees and a dumpster tipped onto its side on the campus are seen in photos from the sheriff’s office.
“We are working to assess the damage that appears to be significant. We are thankful that nobody was inside the building when the storm hit,” school officials told CNN affiliate KJRH in a statement.
The storms were charged by unusually warm air for early March along with a surge of energy from a shift in the jet stream.
Thursday night’s storms
The deaths in Michigan and Oklahoma Friday followed reports of a deadly tornado striking western Oklahoma overnight Thursday.
A mother and daughter were killed when their vehicle was struck by a tornado at the start of the two-day outbreak of severe storms underway in the Plains and Midwest.
The two were traveling near State Highway 60 and 243 Road west of Fairview, Oklahoma, when they were hit by the tornado, Major County Sheriff Tony Robinson told CNN.
The storms also blew over a semi-trailer in Major County, which is about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, according to a report from the National Weather Service.
Thursday night’s storms spawned a total of seven tornado reports from the Texas Panhandle to south-central Kansas. Hail the size of golf balls or larger also pelted the region.
In Grant County, Oklahoma, a reported tornado downed trees, power lines and damaged structures, according to reports from the Weather Service.
This story has been updated with additional details.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht, Monique Smith, Travis Nichols, Ruben Correa, Taylor Romine, Hanna Park and Meteorologists Chris Dolce, Mary Gilbert and Briana Waxman contributed to this report.
