A tornado killed a two-year-old boy and injured his mother after a series of storms hit Michigan and Maryland, injuring five other people.
Authorities in Livonia, Michigan, said a rapidly developing tornado hit several neighborhoods in the city causing devastation.
The storm caused an uprooted tree to crash through the roof of a family home and fall into a bedroom, where a mother and her son were sleeping at the time.
Rescuers struggled for nearly an hour, clearing debris and maneuvering the massive trunk to free the victims.
The child died as a result of the incident, while the mother was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
Meanwhile, in Maryland, five people were injured after another large tree fell on a family home. Leaving a person with ‘traumatic injuries’.
Authorities in Livonia, Michigan, said a rapidly developing tornado hit several neighborhoods in the city causing devastation.
Meanwhile, in Maryland, five people were injured after another large tree fell on a family home. Leaving a person with ‘traumatic injuries’
Vehicles pass fallen leaves and branches on a road as storms hit Gaithersburg, Maryland
Livonia Fire Department Chief Robert Jennison told WDIV-TV that a two-week-old baby was also sleeping in a crib in another room, but was not injured.
They were taken to a hospital for preventive evaluation along with the mother, while the two-year-old child was pronounced dead at the scene.
“This is a terrible tragedy for our community,” Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan said in the statement. “Our hearts are also broken and we send our deepest condolences.”
Livonia officials say the city activates sirens based on alerts from the National Weather Service or tornado sightings.
However, emergency preparedness director Brian Kahn stressed in a statement that they did not receive any prior warning from the National Weather Service or any other source.
A National Weather Service representative attributed the event to a rapidly forming storm, a “gyre,” that developed too quickly to be detected by radar and allow for timely warning, according to city officials.
The National Weather Service in Detroit confirmed Wednesday night that a tornado with a maximum wind speed of 95 mph passed through Livonia.
The agency said the tornado traveled a path that stretched for more than 5 miles, uprooting and damaging trees and damaging some homes.
Workers remove tree parts at a home on Hubbard Street after a storm in Livonia, Michigan, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
Laure Hibberd and her son, Johnny Hibberd, walk past a fallen tree in Rotary Park after a tornado ripped through the area in Livonia, Michigan.
Injured tornado victims are carried to the front yard of a neighbor’s home in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Meanwhile, first responders in Maryland rushed to a group of people who were trapped inside a structure that collapsed after the tornado sparked during Wednesday night’s deadly storms.
A tornado touched down in a suburban area of Montgomery County, Maryland, northwest of Washington, DC
The National Weather Service issued a warning on social media urging residents to seek shelter.
The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Department reported significant damage, including three collapsed structures in Gaithersburg with people trapped inside.
The fall of a large tree on a house caused the most serious injuries and five people were taken to hospital, one of them in critical condition.
Fallen trees caused widespread power outages, as local television footage shows.
Montgomery County Deputy Fire and Rescue Chief David Pazos urged residents to use caution due to numerous downed trees and power lines.