Severe storms tore through parts of the United States again May 8, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and one person in North Carolina. A storm that rumbled across northeastern Tennessee brought high winds that knocked down powerlines and trees. Claiborne County Sheriff Bob Brooks said a man was in a car struck by one of the trees. On May 8, a tornado emergency – the weather service’s highest alert level – was issued for an area south of Nashville including the towns of...

PORTAGE, MI -- The National Weather Service Grand Rapids has mapped the path of the Tuesday, May 7, tornado that ripped through Portage. It’s been deemed an EF2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which goes from EF0 to EF5. On the ground for 22 minutes, wind in the tornado reached 135 miles per hour, damaging homes, tearing the roofs off businesses and uprooting trees in its wake. It’s maximum width was 300 yards. The tornado first touched ground near 10th Street and R Avenue in Texas Township at 5:55...

DETROIT — Severe storms barreled through the Midwest early Wednesday, a day after two tornadoes struck one Michigan city and destroyed homes and commercial buildings, including a FedEx facility. The tornadoes were first spotted after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service. The storms came a day after a deadly twister ripped through an Oklahoma town. As the storms raged on in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday, the National Weather...

Thunderstorms and tornadoes mauled the Midwest, tearing through several western Michigan communities Tuesday evening, leaving a trail of wreckage that weather and emergency officials will have to evaluate more closely in the light of day. At least two tornadoes touched down in Michigan, one in Portage and the other in Branch and St. Joseph counties, National Weather Service officials in Grand Rapids said early Wednesday, adding teams would be out later surveying the damage. "The early warnings saved lives," said Ernie Ostuno, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Grand Rapids,...

PORTAGE, MI -- The smell of pine from downed trees lingered in the air Tuesday night as residents emerged from their homes on Lovers Lane to inspect the damage. Two suspected tornadoes ripped through the Portage area around 6 and 7 p.m. respectively on Tuesday, May 7. Yards were littered with uprooted trees and downed power lines. Some residents were glad they escaped with their lives. Others had just watched everything they own be ripped away. Lynne, who declined to provide her last name, was standing in her front doorway...

PORTAGE, MI -- Workers reportedly trapped inside a partially collapsed FedEx building made it out Tuesdsay night after a likely tornado ripped through Portage. As of about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday, May 8, there were no reports of deaths from what officials suspect were two tornadoes that struck the Portage area, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office. There were injuries -- up to 16 people had non-severe injuries at the Pavilion Estates mobile home community when a tornado tossed mobile homes around. Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller credited a high...

PORTAGE, MI - Initial damage reports from Tuesday night’s storm across south Michigan show partially collapsed buildings, fallen trees and downed power lines, officials said. There were large trees and power lines both downed with roof shingles scattered around Portage due to a possible tornado, according to the National Weather Service in a 6:25 p.m., May 7 update. There is no confirmed tornado touchdown at this point, though weather officials said there were multiple reports of witnesses spotting funnel clouds. The FedEx building on Portage Road and Stryker Way partially...