4 Victims ID'd In Deadly MI Tornado Outbreak As Whitmer Questions Lack Of Tornado Watch

UNION CITY, MI — Sheriff's officials have identified the four victims who were killed in Friday's tornado outbreak across southwest Michigan.

Multiple tornadoes touched down in the area, including an EF-3 with winds up to 160 miles per hour that tore through the Union City area, according to the National Weather Service.

That twister damaged several homes and left three people dead, officials said.

They were identified as 63-year-old William Andrew Akers, 54-year-old Keri Ann Johnson and 65-year-old Penni Jo Guthrie. All of their bodies were found in the same area, along Prairie Rose Lane and Tuttle Park Drive, in the Union Lake area, officials said.

A second tornado touched down in the Edwardsburg area and destroyed a home, leading to the death of a 12-year-old boy, officials said.

A dozen others were injured in the storms, officials said.

All together, the National Weather Service also confirmed four tornadoes across southwest Michigan: EF-3 in the Union City area, an EF-2 in Three Rivers, an EF-1 near Edwardsburg and an EF-0 in Clarendon Township.

Officials said it was the deadliest tornado outbreak across Michigan in decades.

The EF-3 twister that moved through the Union City area was the single deadliest tornado in Michigan since 1980. Video posted to social media showed the twister scattering debris and pulling up chunks of ice from a nearby lake at its maximum peak.

Another video showed the Three Rivers twister ripping the roof off a Menards store and pulling apart a storage unit in the area.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties. The order will authorize the use of all available state resources to help those communities recover.

Her office also asked why no tornado watch was issued in the region and whether it has anything to do with the Trump administration's funding cutbacks at the National Weather Service, according to a Detroit News report.

"The National Weather Service exists to monitor conditions and inform Americans of severe weather in their communities. The fact that the (National Weather) Service did not issue a tornado watch is troubling, especially with the loss of life in Michigan," Whitmer spokeswoman Stacey LaRouche told the News. "While tornadoes can be hard to predict, the federal government should investigate whether the failure to issue a watch was related to federal cuts."