4 dead, more than 12 injured after tornado, storm in southern Michigan
4 dead, more than 12 injured after tornado, storm in southern Michigan
Dinah Voyles Pulver, Liz Shepard and Don Reid, USA TODAY NETWORK Sat, March 7, 2026 at 5:51 AM UTC
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A powerful storm system moving over southern Michigan on the afternoon of March 6 spawned at least one confirmed tornado, killing four people and injuring more than a dozen others.
The severe thunderstorm moved through Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties, leaving damages across a 50-mile swath between Edwardsburg, Three Rivers and Union City, according to reports from the National Weather Service office in Northern Indiana.
At least one "large and extremely dangerous" tornado was confirmed by storm chasers, trained spotters, broadcast media and public videos from Three Rivers in St. Joseph County, Michigan, the weather service said.
Three of the deaths and 12 injuries were reported by the Branch County Sheriff's Office. Of the 12 injured, three were taken to local hospitals after the storm moved through the Union Lake area of the county.
"Our thoughts are with those who have lost family, friends, and property during this incident," the sheriff's office stated.
A fatality and several injuries were confirmed by Cass County Sheriff Clint Roach. Multiple large structures, including homes and pole barns, sustained either major damage or total destruction, the county reported.
In St. Joseph County, the Sheriff's Office advised people to avoid traveling to or through locations in the city of Three Rivers, areas to the east and northeast of the community and in Fabius Township. The sheriff's office also advised people to avoid damaged structures and structures that had been marked by emergency personnel.
The weather service office in Northern Indiana said it intends to send a meteorology team out on the morning of March 7 to conduct a storm survey to confirm damages left by the storm and determine whether there was more than one tornado and how intense the winds were.
"We are being flooded with reports of damage so we do not have an exact number to report," said Maddi Johnson, a meteorologist in the weather service office. "We do know that there were several homes damaged on the north side of Union Lake" in Union City, Michigan, Johnson said.
Additional severe weather is possible overnight into March 7 and could influence how early the meteorologists are able to begin the survey, the weather service said. If warnings are issued, residents should seek shelter immediately and continue monitoring trusted weather and news sources for information.
The National Weather Service released this graphic explaining how tornado surveys are conducted after a storm.
The Three Rivers tornado struck around 3:50 p.m. Storm chasers and emergency management staff in St. Joseph County reported the tornado touched down multiple times before causing damage on the southwest side of Three Rivers just before 4 p.m. local time.
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Local officials also reported to the weather service that a person had been trapped in debris and needed extrication between Niles and Edwardsburg in Cass County. A tornado warning had been issued for portions of Cass and St. Joseph counties around 3:14 p.m. local time, and then continued at 3:52 p.m.
The storm that spawned the tornado that struck Three Rivers was still showing organization and potential strengthening as it continued toward the northeast, the weather service reported.
Social media videos posted from in St. Joseph and Cass counties showed a section of roof being lifted off a Menards store in Three Rivers and debris being hurled around in the air.
The weather service also reported "a large debris ball" on radar over Union City, Michigan. Damage reports were received along a roughly 60 mile swath between Niles and Union City, but it wasn't immediately clear whether it was caused by one or multiple tornadoes.
At 5 p.m., the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Office shared a Facebook post asking "everyone to please stay away from the north end" of the county until further notice. "Emergency personnel are currently responding to an active situation in that area, and it is critical that our firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMS, and other emergency workers have clear access," the office stated.
As of 10 p.m. on March 6, a few thousand customers were without electricity in St. Joseph and Cass counties.
Other tornadoes reported
The Three Rivers tornado is among at least a half dozen reported across the United States on March 5 and 6.
In Oklahoma, a woman and her daughter died when their van was caught by a tornado March 5. Weather service meteorologists were still surveying the damage from those storms on the afternoon of March 6.
Tornado warnings
The National Weather Service office in Grand Rapids, Michigan had issued a tornado warning for a portion of its coverage area that was due to expire at 5:30 p.m.Storm risk forecast for the afternoon of March 6
An outlook for potential severe storms that had been issued by the National Weather Storm Prediction Center at 1:45 p.m. The area where the tornado struck had been in an area of marginal risk, according to the forecast.Tornado warning issued in Three Rivers, Michigan
This warning was issued just after 3 p.m. on March 6. An update, at 3:52 p.m., warned of a "particularly dangerous situation" as a large and extremely dangerous tornado moved northeast over Three Rivers at 40 mph.
A tornado warning issued for parts of southern Michigan on March 6, 2026, before a tornado caused damage in the area around Three Rivers, Michigan.
Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about violent weather, climate change and other news. Reach her at dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 4 dead, 12 injured in southern Michigan after reported tornado
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