A tornado killed a 2-year-old boy and injured his mother on Wednesday when a tree fell on their house in suburban Detroit. Emergency crews in Maryland responded to reports of collapsed structures with people trapped inside following a tornado.
Officials in Livonia, Michigan, claimed in a post on the city’s website that a quick-developing tornado impacted multiple communities on Wednesday afternoon.
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According to officials, a large tree uprooted and fell into the family’s house, through the roof, and onto a bed where a woman and her two-year-old were resting. Crews labored for about an hour to remove the roof and pieces of the tree, then lifted it to get the victims out.
Authorities declared the toddler dead at the scene. They sent the woman, in severe condition, to a local hospital.
According to Livonia Fire Department Chief Robert Jennison, a 2-week-old sister in a crib in a separate room was not wounded but was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
“This is a terrible tragedy for our community,” Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan stated in her statement. We also feel heartbroken and extend our deepest sympathies.”
The city of Livonia activates warning sirens in response to National Weather Service warnings or tornado reports, according to officials. However, Livonia Emergency Preparedness Director Brian Kahn clarified in the statement that the city did not receive any prior notice from the government or anyone else.
According to city officials, a weather service agent described it as a spin-up storm that did not appear on radar in time to offer a warning.
The National Weather Service in Detroit verified on the social media platform X Wednesday night that an EF1 tornado with a peak wind speed of 95 mph (153 kmh) passed near Livonia. According to the organization, the twister moved for more than 5 miles (8 kilometers), uprooting and damaging trees as well as several residences.
In Maryland, emergency personnel responded to reports that individuals were trapped inside fallen structures after a tornado was sighted in the area during a series of violent storms on Wednesday night.
The National Weather Service warned residents to seek shelter after spotting a tornado in a Montgomery County suburb northwest of Washington on social media.
According to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer, three structures in Gaithersburg have fallen, trapping individuals inside.
Piringer stated that the most major damage happened when a giant tree fell on a single-family home, injuring five individuals, including one with catastrophic injuries. He stated that the hospital received them all.
A local television video showed big trees that fell and damaged houses.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief David Pazos reported a high number of power disruptions.
“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.
Tornado warnings remained in effect throughout the state and in Delaware on Wednesday night.
