CLIMAX TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Three people were killed after a tree struck their vehicle in Michigan as strong storms moved through the area Sunday, deputies say.
It happened around 5:40 p.m. in Climax Township, about 130 miles west of Detroit. The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office said its initial investigation found that a tree hit the car.
Three family members were killed. Three other family members were hospitalized, one in critical condition and two in stable condition.
The names of the people killed were not released Sunday night pending notification of family.
Kalamazoo County had been under a National Weather Service severe thunderstorm warning at the time, one of several on Sunday in southern Michigan.
More than 400,000 power outages were reported across Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, according to Poweroutage.us. Crews, including DTE Energy in Michigan, were working to restore service.
Nexstar’s WOOD reported that tornado warnings were also in effect in nearby areas, and storms packed strong winds, including gusts above 80 mph in metro Grand Rapids and around 60 mph in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek.
The National Weather Service was expected to send crews out Monday to review the storm damage and determine whether it was caused by tornadoes and, if so, exactly where they touched down.
Clusters of thunderstorms accompanied by strong to severe wind gusts and perhaps a few tornadoes could spread across much of the Southeast on Monday, according to the weather service’s Storm Prediction Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
