Gaylord tornado death toll at two, 44 people injured

The death toll from Friday's tornado in Gaylord stands at two with 44 people injured.

At a press conference Saturday morning, Michigan State Police public information officer Spl. Lt. Derrick Carroll said the second deceased victim was in their 70s and found at the Nottingham Forest Mobile Home Park after midnight. The person was dead when found by rescue crews.

Officials also released more details about the person who was confirmed dead on Friday. That individual was also in their 70s and was found in the mobile home park. 

MORE: Tornado tears through Gaylord: 'We never expected something like this'

Carroll said a preliminary search of all homes and businesses has been completed and authorities are now conducting a secondary sweep of the area.

“We're working on getting the people back to their residence so we can assess the damage, but that's still going to take some time,” he said. “We have a lot of debris to clear. We've had a lot of volunteers out with heavy equipment.”

The total number of people injured remains at 44, with many of the victims being treated at hospitals outside Gaylord, a city of about 4,200 people, after the local hospital hit capacity on Friday.  

John Boris, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gaylord, said the tornado touched down near the Alba highway area and entered Gaylord near a mobile home park and traveled across M-32. A survey team will look at the tornado damage path, he said.

The weather service confirmed Gaylord has no tornado sirens, something residents had observed on Friday, surprised they only learned of the tornado by cellphone alerts. 

Fire department officials said trailers were overturned and on top of each of other throughout the park, and crews were still searching the area Saturday.

The initial tornado warning went out at 3:38 and entered Gaylord at 3:48 p.m., Boris said. It moved at 55 mph and took about three minutes to go through town, he said.  

“In the state of Michigan in general, we typically average about 15 or so in the entire state (annually) and more of those are downstate than they are up in the north,” Boris said of tornadoes. “This is pretty unusual for up here.”

“The storm, we believe as a rough estimate, was on the ground for approximately 26 minutes, but we’ll have a better idea of that once we get on site,” he said.

Boris mentioned two previous significant wind events Aug. 28, 2018, and Sept. 26, 1998, with extensive damage.

“This is by the worst of those three,” he said. “We have a lot more residential damage in this event.”

Tornadoes typically stay on the ground for a couple minutes at a time, he said.

“The atmosphere yesterday supported a real significant potential for a tornado,” Boris said. “Given the atmosphere that we had yesterday it was not surprising this happened, but even for up here that’s very unusual.”

Carroll said a curfew will be in place from dark Saturday until Sunday morning. 

“The power is out in downtown Gaylord,” Carroll said. “There are no streetlights and limited visibility.”

According to Consumers Energy nearly 6,600 homes were without power as of Saturday morning, representing about 34% of power energy throughout the region, Carroll said. 

Water and sewer services have not been disrupted.

Gaylord Police Chief Frank Claeys thanked the first responders and said they displayed “truly inspiring behavior." He said it was “humbling to be apart of a family that steps up."

Claeys said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's approval of an emergency declaration “will aid our efforts and help our community as it recovers.”

According to the state police, 11 people were taking refuge at a shelter set up at the local E-Free Church, but most people impacted were able to stay with family in the area.

The tornado damage seen Saturday in Gaylord was severe but sporadic, often differing from house to house.

A man was mowing his lawn in shorts and a hoodie like any other Saturday. Meanwhile, across the street and a few houses down, men in pickup trucks were working diligently to remove downed trees.

Power remained out in much of the area, but men could be seen loading golf bags into a truck and teams were already playing on both courses on the outskirts of the resort town up north.