GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Severe weather Thursday evening wreaked havoc throughout West Michigan— leaving a trail of damage in its path.
With severe thunderstorms in West Michigan and even an EF-1 tornado with 110 mph winds in Kent County, there are widespread reports of downed trees and power lines across roadways in the area.
Kent County set up a website and is asking community members to report storm damage to their property to help them develop emergency response plans. They are asking people to only report damage to their property to reduce duplicate reports.
Kent County Emergency Management says the main corridor of damage appears to be from Alpine Avenue near 6 Mile, northeast through Belmont.
Local law enforcement throughout the region posted warnings on social media, asking people to stay off the roads, including the city of Walker Police Department and the Ionia County Sheriff's Office.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office set up an emergency operation center Thursday night to coordinate rescue and recovery efforts throughout the community.
Sergeant Eric Brunner said the team was “out in full force,” and the sheriff’s office even called in extra help.
“So far what we’re seeing— Alpine Township, Plainfield Township, Grand Rapids Township are the hardest hit communities in our area. Alpine Avenue is impassable,” Sgt. Brunner told FOX 17 during a live interview at 11 p.m.
He added that a building was destroyed in the 5600 block of Alpine Avenue, while the roof from a building across the street ended up in the middle of the road. Plus— there’s a gas leak in the area.
As of 11 p.m., the Kent County Sheriff’s Office did not have any reported injuries or deaths related to storm damage; however, a woman and two children died in a crash caused by hydroplaning.
Sgt. Brunner says it happened on 18 Mile near Harvard Avenue.
He says a car with four people inside started hydroplaning and hit another car on 18 Mile. We’re told a woman and two kids died in the crash, and the driver suffered a head injury.
The storms also knocked out power for thousands of residents.
Friday morning, the Consumers Energy Outage Map was reporting more than 182,000 customers without power.
"With a storm this severe, you have limbs, branches, entire trees that are being blown— in some cases— clear across the street, across neighborhoods, so [it's] that sort of damage that we're seeing," Brian Wheeler, with Consumers Energy, told FOX 17 Thursday night. "It could be severe, in terms of the cleanup process, that could slow or affect things, so we're going to be mindful of that."
FOX 17 is continuing to monitor damage reports and storms as they make their way south. Download the FOX 17 Weather app to stay up-to-date on the latest conditions.
*This is a developing story and will be updated as new details are confirmed.
