Article Summary –
A tornado touched down near Livonia’s western border in Michigan, with winds of up to 95 mph, leaving a trail of destruction along its 5.5-mile path through the city. The tornado was so quick that there was no time to deploy the city’s emergency notification system. The tornado caused the death of a 2-year-old child and severely injured his mother and sibling, toppled trees onto houses, and left the city in a state of emergency with officials still assessing the damage.
A deadly tornado with 95 mph winds descended on Livonia’s western border so swiftly Wednesday that there wasn’t enough time to engage the city’s emergency notification system. The twister left a 5.5-mile trail of damage in its wake, officials confirmed.
The destructive tornado that landed near Livonia’s western border was one of two that hit Lower Michigan on Wednesday, the other touching down in Crawford County near Roscommon, according to the National Weather Service.
This tornado led to the heart-breaking death of a 2-year-old child when a tree fell on a house. The storm also gravely injured the toddler’s mother and injured his 2-week-old sibling. The mother’s condition remains critical, said Bobby Maldonado, a Trinity Health Michigan spokesperson. Crews were seen on Thursday removing debris and assessing the damage.
Kristin Houchins, Livonia’s director of communications, stated that the tornado appeared suddenly. She noted that, at the time, the National Weather Service had merely issued a special weather statement, not an advisory, hence there were no warnings.
The National Weather Service explained that it did not issue a warning due to the tornado’s rapid development. According to Steve Considine, a meteorologist with the service in White Lake Township, the tornado developed and dissipated very quickly over Livonia, making it challenging to issue a warning.
City officials have had to respond to queries from residents as to why no sirens were activated. Houchins explained that their sirens are based on notifications from the National Weather Service’s Weather Spotters and unfortunately the development of the storm was too swift.
The Livonia tornado was classified by the National Weather Service as an EF1 twister and was reported to be 450 yards wide and to have created a 5.5-mile path. Its touch down location was just east of Schoolcraft and Eckles roads and it moved northeast onto Mason Road just north of Interstate 96, causing significant damage.
Following the tragic incident, a GoFundMe campaign was started to support the affected family. By Thursday evening, the effort had raised over $200,000, greatly surpassing its initial $12,000 goal.
Service restoration efforts are ongoing as Michigan’s largest power companies work tirelessly. DTE Energy reported that about 8,500 of its customers across Metro Detroit were without electricity power on Thursday afternoon, while Consumers Energy reported almost 6,300 customers were still without power late Thursday afternoon.
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