Five Dead and More Than 450,000 Without Power After Michigan Storms

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would be declaring a state of emergency for the area, which was hit by at least two tornadoes

At least five people were killed when a powerful storm system that tossed cars on the interstate, downed power lines and caused widespread damage tore through lower Michigan Thursday night.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Friday that she would be declaring a state of emergency in the wake of the storms, which included at least two confirmed tornadoes, according to the Detroit Free Press.

In Kent County, a 21-year-old mother and her 1-year-old and 3-year-old daughters were killed when their car hydroplaned and crossed the center line into oncoming traffic during heavy rain, according to MLive.

Two other people, including an 84-year-old woman, died in separate storm-related accidents in Lansing and in rural Ingham County, per the outlet.

On Friday, authorities began assessing the damage via drones, while the National Weather Service was set to visit multiple areas in Ingham and Kent counties to verify the reported tornadic activity, MLive reported.

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By Friday afternoon, more than 450,000 customers throughout the state were still without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

Related: At Least 2 Dead, More than 20,000 Acres Burned in Washington State Wildfires

The storms came after another weather system had dumped close to 8 inches of rain on parts of southern Michigan and northern Ohio, CNN reported.

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"The last two days have been extremely active compared to what we typically see in Michigan," Steve Considine, a senior National Weather Service forecaster in White Lake Township said, per the Free Press. "This time of year, it's severe weather season."

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