When a tree fell on their suburban Detroit home on Wednesday, a tornado killed a 2-year-old kid and injured his mother. Meanwhile, emergency personnel in Maryland were responding to reports of fallen buildings with people trapped inside after a tornado there.
Livonia, Michigan, officials stated in a post on the city’s website that the rapidly growing tornado made landfall in multiple communities on Wednesday afternoon.
According to authorities, a huge tree was uprooted, crashed through the roof of the family’s home, and landed on a bed where the woman and her 2-year-old were resting. Before lifting the tree to free the victims, crews had to work for about an hour to remove the roof and some of the tree.
Authorities said that the toddler was declared deceased at the spot. The mother’s health was critical when she was taken to a nearby hospital.
Livonia Fire Department Chief Robert Jennison said that a 2-week-old sister who was in a crib in a different room was sent to a hospital for an assessment but was not hurt.
“This is a terrible tragedy for our community,” Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan stated. “Our hearts are broken, too, and we send our deepest sympathies.”
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According to officials, the city of Livonia sounds its warning sirens in response to tornado sightings or messages from the National Weather Service. But according to Livonia Emergency Preparedness Director Brian Kahn’s statement, the city didn’t get any prior notice from the organization or anybody else.
According to city officials, a weather service agent referred to it as a “spin-up storm” because it failed to appear on their radars in time for a warning.
On Wednesday night, the National Weather Service in Detroit verified via the social media site X that an EF1 tornado, which had a maximum wind speed of 95 mph (153 kmh), had passed over Livonia. According to the agency, the twister uprooted and damaged trees as well as causing damage to a few houses over its more than five-mile (8-kilometer) route.
Emergency personnel in Maryland responded to reports that individuals were trapped inside collapsed structures following the sighting of a tornado during Wednesday night’s intense storm waves.
The National Weather Service sent a warning on social media that there was a tornado seen in a Montgomery County suburban neighborhood northwest of Washington, and that everyone in the vicinity should seek shelter.
A spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, Pete Piringer, said that there have been reports of three fallen structures in Gaithersburg with individuals trapped inside.
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The largest damage, according to Piringer, was when a big tree fell on a single-family home, injuring five people—one of them severely. They were all taken to a hospital, he said.
Large downed trees that caused damage to houses when they fell were seen on local television. There were numerous power outages, said to David Pazos, assistant chief of Montgomery County Fire & Rescue.
“We don’t know what people’s needs are, so we’re having to go door to door to assess whether they need fire and rescue services or need relocation because of damage to their homes,” he stated.
