Rare northern Michigan tornado kills 1, injures more than 40

GAYLORD, Mich. (AP) — A rare northern Michigan tornado tore through a small community on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring more than 40 others as it flipped vehicles, tore roofs from buildings and downed trees and power lines.

The twister hit Gaylord, a city of about 4,200 people roughly 230 miles (370 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, at around 3:45 p.m.

Mike Klepadlo, who owns the car repair shop Alter-Start North, said he and his workers took cover in a bathroom.

“I’m lucky I’m alive. It blew the back off the building,” he said.

“Twenty feet (6 meters) of the back wall is gone. The whole roof is missing. At least half the building is still here. It’s bad.”

Emma Goddard, 15, said she was working at the Tropical Smoothie Cafe when she got a phone alert about the tornado.

Thinking the weather outside looked “stormy, but not scary,” she dismissed it and returned to what she was doing.

Her mother then called and she assured her mom she was OK.

Two minutes later, she was pouring a customer’s smoothie when her coworker’s mom rushed in yelling for them to get to the back of the building, Goddard told The Associated Press by text message.

They took shelter in the walk-in cooler, where they could hear windows shattering.