wolmerica PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) — The National Weather Service will be in southwest Michigan on Wednesday to evaluate the strength of Tuesday’s tornadoes.
The Portage area in Kalamazoo County and Centreville in St. Joseph County bore the brunt of the damage from Tuesday’s storms.
Buildings destroyed, trees down after tornadoes in SW MI
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office said around 15 to 17 homes at the Pavilion Estates, a mobile home park in the Portage area, were destroyed. The sheriff’s office said 16 to 20 people were injured in Tuesday’s storms. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening.
The City of Portage has set up two shelters for those who were displaced by the tornadoes:
- First Assembly of God, 555 Oakland Drive — 100-person capacity
- Radiant Church, 995 Romence Road — 100-person capacity
Anyone who needs assistance can call 1.800.RED.CROSS.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office urges residents to call 269.488.8911 for non-emergency calls and 211 for shelter and human service resources.
The city of Portage’s non-emergency offices are closed on Wednesday. However, Portage residents can call 269.329.4444 for city service information, including brush pickup and clean-up assistance.
Closing and Delays
Centreville and Portage public schools are closed on Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Branch, and Cass counties. The declaration frees up state resources to help local authorities with clean-up and rebuilding efforts.
POWER OUTAGES
Consumers Energy expects to restore power to the majority of affected customers in Branch, Kalamazoo and St. Joseph counties by the end of the day Wednesday.
The Consumers Energy outage map shows more than 23,000 customers without power across Michigan Wednesday morning.
The following West Michigan counties had more than 100 Consumers Energy customers without power as of 6 a.m. Wednesday:
- Branch County: 563
- Calhoun County: 163
- Kalamazoo County: 18,760
- St. Joseph County: 3,944
Consumers Energy urges people to stay at least 25 feet away from downed power lines. If you see one, assume it is energized, call 911 and Consumers Energy at 800.477.5050.
