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Severe Storm Leaves 3 Dead; Residents Recover

POSTED: 7:08 am EDT October 19, 2007
UPDATED: 5:00 pm EDT October 20, 2007

Residents continue to recover and clean after severe storms ripped through much of northern Michigan on Thursday night and into the morning hours Friday.

Authorities found the bodies of two people missing after severe weather -- including tornadoes, strong winds and oversized hail -- pushed through much of Michigan, overturning vehicles and destroying homes on Friday.

Dwayne and Susan Bentley, both in their 50s, lived in a home that was destroyed from the severe storms.

The discovery raised the death toll from storms late Thursday and early Friday to at least three.

Roads were blocked off in Ingham County's Locke Township, located near Williamston outside Lansing, as authorities searched a pond and debris at the site of a home that appeared to have been blown off its foundation into a pond.

Sheriff's deputies in Kalkaska County, located in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, confirmed one death after a line of severe storms ripped through that county and much of northern Michigan.

Officials said the 29-year-old male victim was trapped inside his house after strong winds took the structure down around him, according to WWTV-TV in Cadillac. Deputies also said a couple was taken to an area hospital after being trapped in another demolished house.

In Williamston, strong winds reportedly flipped a semi-truck that had been traveling along Interstate 96, damaged nearby homes and downed several trees and power lines. Police could not provide further information about the semi-truck driver's injuries.

"It looks like the biggest damage will be in that Williamston area," said David Beachler, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. He said weather service crews would assess the damage Friday.

In Tuscola County's Millington Township, a year-old baby in a crib escaped injury after apparently being tossed about 100 feet by a possible tornado that destroyed a home and other property early Friday, fire officials said.

The baby's parents told Local 4 News that their home was leveled, and they are in complete shock.

"Sometimes miracles happen," said Millington Township firefighter Dan Detgen.

An emergency call came through as a home destroyed with a baby missing, The Flint Journal reported, and by the time firefighters arrived, a neighbor found the baby in a crib under a pile of debris.

A blind man's wife saved him just minutes before the wind blew their house apart, and their brick chimney collapsed on his bed. Vance De Camp told Local 4, " About 10:45, she came into the bedroom and said 'Vance we got to get into the basement quick.' So I jumped up ... We got hit by a big blast wind of and rain and noise and it knocked us down to the floor."

Utility crews continue to work on restoring power to the remaining few hundred residents without electricity after the storms.

Consumers Energy spokesman it was down to 800 customers in the dark on Saturday. The hardest hit areas were Muskegon, Traverse City, Big Rapids and Clare, he said.

DTE Energy had about 5,000 scattered customers off-line, said spokesman Scott Simons and about 800 customers were waiting for electricity in southern Berrien County on Friday.

The utilities hoped to have everyone back online later Saturday.

National Weather Service officials in Gaylord believe as many as four tornadoes, plus a water spout over an area lake, may have touched down in Kalkaska, Cheboygan, Alpena and Mio.

"This is extremely rare," said David Lawrence, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Gaylord. "When you're this deep into the month of October, it's a very rare event."

At 10:52 p.m., a confirmed tornado touched down and damaged seven homes in the Shiawassee County community of Perry, about 65 miles west-northwest of Detroit, according to the National Weather Service in Oakland County's White Lake Township.

The weather service also reported wind damage in Saginaw County and 1-inch hail in Midland.

Six people died in the United States due to the recent storm wave. Three of the victim's were from Michigan.

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