Livonia, Michigan — A toddler was killed and his mother injured when a tornado struck a Detroit suburb without warning, and five people were injured in Maryland when a tornado collapsed a building and trapped people inside.
Officials in Livonia, Michigan, said a tornado swept through several neighborhoods Wednesday afternoon and developed so quickly that there was no advance notice from the National Weather Service or other agencies that would normally activate warning sirens.
A huge tree fell on a family’s home during the storm, went through the roof and landed on the bed where the woman and her 2-year-old child were sleeping, officials said in a post on the city’s website. Crews worked for nearly an hour to remove the roof and some of the trees, then lift the trees and rescue the victims.
The infant was reported to have died at the scene. Her mother was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
The two-week-old siblings, who were in cribs in separate rooms, were not injured but were taken to the hospital for evaluation, Livonia Fire Chief Robert Jennison told WDIV-TV.
“This is a terrible tragedy for our community,” Brosnan Mayor Maureen Miller said in a statement. “We are heartbroken and offer our deepest condolences.”
The National Weather Service in Detroit confirmed via social platform The agency said the twister uprooted trees and damaged some homes as it traveled a path of more than 5 miles (8 kilometers).
National Weather Service officials said it was a storm that didn’t show up on radar in enough time to issue a warning, according to city officials.
Tornado warnings were issued Wednesday night for parts of several other states, including Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
In Maryland, emergency crews responded to reports of people trapped inside collapsed structures after a tornado struck Wednesday night.
The tornado was spotted in suburban Montgomery County in northwest Washington, the National Weather Service said in a social media post, warning residents in the area to evacuate.
Montgomery County Fire Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer said there were reports of three structures collapsing in Gaithersburg and people trapped inside.
Piringer said the most serious damage occurred when a large tree fell on a single-family home, injuring five people, including one who suffered trauma. He said they were all taken to the hospital.
Local television footage showed large fallen trees damaging homes.
Montgomery County Fire Rescue Deputy Chief David Pazos said there were a lot of power outages.
“We don’t know what people need, so we have to go door to door to assess whether they need fire and rescue services or whether their homes are damaged and they need relocation,” he said.
