Videos Show Aftermath of Deadly Michigan Tornadoes as 700,000 Lose Power

Videos shared on social media revealed the devastating aftermath of an aggressive line of storms that killed at least five people in Michigan on Thursday night.

Tornadoes hit Michigan in a massive line of storms that impacted several states. Wind gusts topped 80 miles per hour and caused the loss of power for more than 700,000 customers across Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. More than 691,000 remained without power on Friday morning, according to the U.S. Power Outage Map. The deadly line of storms caused extensive damage as well, hitting the village of Webberville, Michigan, particularly hard.

Around 16 tornadoes hit Michigan per year on average, according to the state's website. Humidity often provides a prime environment for tornadoes to form as the storms require warm, moist air. Humidity has plagued the Midwest this week, with some states experiencing tropical-like dew point levels.

Videos of the damage were shared to X, formerly Twitter, overnight Thursday and into early Friday morning.

"Webberville, #Michigan Significant #tornado damage," Chicago & Midwest Storm Chasers posted just after 1 a.m. on Friday morning. "Homes, Trees, Power lines, and corn stalks are all severely damaged. Multiple barns were taken out, But all the animals were safe. More search and rescue ongoing across the entire area along I-96, and south of it. #MIwx."

In a separate post shared just after 3:30 a.m., the account posted a video of wrecked vehicles on Interstate 96 near Webberville.

"They are still digging out cars, semis, and other debris off I-96 just outside Webberville, MI. There are at least 10 other semis to be towed and lots of other cars. It's currently 3am...It's going to be a busy morning," the account posted.

At least five people were killed by the storm, according to local Michigan news site MLive.com. A mother and two young children were tragically killed in a car crash when the vehicle hydroplaned near Cedar Springs. A tree fell on a home in Lansing, killing one. Meanwhile, more than two dozen cars were involved in a car crash on Interstate 96, with one person killed in the wreck, which could have been caused by a tornado tearing through the area, according to local news station WILX.

National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Bruce Smith told Newsweek on Friday that the NWS has confirmed two tornadoes touched down in Michigan Thursday night. One tornado touched down just north of Grand Rapids while another touched down in Ingham County near Webberville.

Smith added that damage assessment teams were still canvassing sites from Grand Rapids to Detroit.

"A broad section of southern Michigan was impacted," he said.

Storm chaser Corey Gerken shared a video of lashing rain and winds in northern Grand Rapids.

"Big time winds from a possible #Tornado in Comstock Park on the northside of Grand Rapids, Michigan earlier this evening," Gerken posted just before midnight on Thursday. The video was taken from the inside of a car, with rain causing low visibility. Traffic lights whipped around wildly in the background due to the wind.

One tornado was sighted near Lansing, according to a report by Fox Weather on Friday.

Update 08/25/2023, 12:21 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the NWS.