By CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam and Sydney Bishop
Strong storms brought damaging tornadoes to parts of the central United States on Thursday and Friday, reducing buildings to piles of rubble and killing at least eight people.
The severe weather threat that began Wednesday will largely subside after this Saturday.
A handful of severe storms threaten from central Texas to the lower Mississippi Valley, Memphis and other parts of western Tennessee, Alabama and parts of the Great Lakes, including Cleveland and Pittsburgh, with large hail, damaging winds and possible tornadoes this Saturday.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for areas of Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia until 8 pm Miami time.
Competing air masses with record temperatures in the east and colder weather behind an elongated cold front fuel the threat of severe weather.
Among the more than a dozen tornado reports, several were confirmed in the heart of the United States.
In southwest Michigan on Friday afternoon, four people were killed and others were injured when an intense thunderstorm triggered a destructive tornado, rated EF-3, with winds up to 150 mph, according to NEXLAB, the University of DuPage Meteorology program.
Three people were killed and 12 others were injured when the tornado hit the Union Lake area, the Branch County Sheriff’s Office told The Associated Press. Several people were hospitalized, according to the AP, although the severity of their injuries was not immediately known.
Patricia Polacco, a Union City resident and renowned author and illustrator of more than 115 children’s books, published resources for those who need help in her area.
An elementary school classic and one of Polacco’s most beloved books, “Thunder Cake,” is about a grandmother who helps a boy cope with his fear of storms during Michigan summers.
“My town is largely intact, which almost makes it harder to see. My house, my studio, my barn and the surrounding buildings where I live… are still standing,” he said in a video posted to Facebook.
“Thank you all for your concern and please pray, especially for the families who have just suffered the most terrible loss of their lives.”
Another person was killed and several others were 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 declared, they added.
The tornado was fed by a single supercell storm and received a rare “particularly hazardous situation” designation from the National Weather Service as it moved 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 sent fragments of buildings into the air and ripped off large sections of a warehouse roof, videos show. It is unclear if anyone was injured. CNN has reached out for more information.
“There are roofs ripped off, trees down, power lines everywhere,” Three Rivers resident Shanna Ortiz told CNN affiliate WWMT.
The mother was picking up her daughter from daycare when she heard sirens and the daycare told everyone to stay inside, Ortiz said.
“We all went to the bathroom together and started singing songs, playing games. But we were praising God,” he said. “We felt like our ears were clogged and we heard a loud noise.”
Amber Jaseph saw the tornado approaching them as she ran to pick up her baby from daycare.
“We looked out the window and saw the tornado pass through this strip,” she told WWMT, her voice shaking with emotion as she placed her baby in her arms. “That’s where my daughter is, where my parents are, where I live down the street.”
“I was just very grateful that God protected my daughter, my mother, my sister, my family.”
Also in Three Rivers, Nelson Storms was home when the tornado hit and was able to take shelter “just in time.”
“As soon as I went down to the basement, the whole house started falling apart,” he told WWMT.
In Union City, east of Union Lake, video shows huge debris flying through 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 reported.
As of Friday night, “all people have been accounted for and no others are missing,” Sheriff Eddy Rice said in a statement.
“We are getting everywhere as fast as we can, clearing roads as quickly as possible,” Okmulgee County Emergency Director Jeff Moore told the AP, adding that the area has suffered 4 miles of damage.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said he had spoken with Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols and Beggs Mayor Roger Merrill following the tornadoes in their communities.
“We are committed to helping in 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 “help your neighbors if you can.”
In Tulsa, glass and debris was scattered across one of Tulsa Tech’s campuses, the sheriff’s office reported.
“Deputies are working with Tulsa Tech officials to close and secure the campus due to public safety concerns,” the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.
Photos from the Sheriff’s Office show downed trees and an overturned trash container on campus.
“We are working to assess the damage, which appears to be significant. We are grateful that no one was inside the building when the storm hit,” school officials told CNN affiliate KJRH in a statement.
The storms were driven by unusually warm air for early March, along with an increase in energy due to a change in the jet stream.
The deaths in Michigan and Oklahoma on Friday followed reports of a deadly tornado that struck western Oklahoma overnight Thursday.
A mother and daughter were killed when their vehicle was hit by a tornado at the start of the ongoing two-day series of severe storms in the Plains and Midwest.
Both were traveling near State Highway 60 and Highway 243 west of Fairview, Oklahoma, when they were hit by the tornado, Major County Sheriff Tony Robinson told CNN.
The storms also knocked down a semi-truck in Major County, located about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, according to a National Weather Service report.
Thursday night’s storms generated a total of seven tornado reports from the Texas Panhandle to south-central Kansas. Hail the size of golf balls or larger also hit the region.
In Grant County, Oklahoma, a reported tornado downed trees, power lines and damaged structures, according to Weather Service reports.
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With reporting by CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht, Monique Smith, Travis Nichols, Ruben Correa, Taylor Romine, Hanna Park and meteorologists Chris Dolce, Mary Gilbert and Briana Waxman.
