Wild weather blamed for deaths of 3 kids in Michigan and a man in an
Amish buggy in Indiana
[April 01, 2025]
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A tree fell on a van in Michigan,
killing three children, during a fierce weekend storm that swept the
region and contributed to the death of an 84-year-old man in an Amish
buggy in Indiana, authorities said Monday.
Meanwhile, more potentially dangerous weather rolled across parts of the
Southeastern U.S.
Trees and power lines were no match for freezing rain and extreme winds
over the weekend, and utilities were gradually restoring power in
Michigan, although 276,000 outages remained by Monday afternoon,
according to poweroutage.us. Indiana and Wisconsin had trimmed their
outages to roughly 80,000.
The victims of the fallen tree in Kalamazoo County were a 2-year-old
girl, her 4-year-old brother and an 11-year-old girl who was their
cousin. Three other people in the van were injured Sunday about 130
miles (209 kilometers) west of Detroit.
“The family could not have avoided this,” Sheriff Richard Fuller told
reporters, adding that the tree struck the passenger area where the
children were sitting.
“It was such a large tree that it came across two lanes of traffic and
out the other side of the vehicle for about 12 more feet,” the sheriff
said.

The area had been under a severe thunderstorm warning at the time, one
of several Sunday in southern Michigan.
At roughly the same time, an Amish buggy in Middlebury, Indiana, flipped
because of intense winds, killing Lonnie Yoder, police said.
Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula remained a mess Monday, with
thousands of trees down because of freezing rain that struck Saturday.
Police urged people to stay off roads. The Alpena News said it couldn't
publish a newspaper because it had no power, like the rest of Alpena
County.
The Mackinac Bridge, a 5-mile (8-kilometer) span connecting Michigan's
two peninsulas, was shut down because of the danger of thick ice falling
on cars from the bridge's towers and cables.
In Valparaiso, Indiana, investigators believe severe crosswinds blew
over a tractor-trailer Sunday afternoon, killing the driver at the
property of Pratt Industries, the Porter County sheriff’s office said.
Jagbir Singh, 34, of Ontario, Canada, was found outside the passenger
compartment.
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Weekend storms that toppled the steeple at Grace Baptist Church in
Franklin, Ohio, is seen Monday, March 31, 2025. (Nick Graham/Dayton
Daily News via AP)

A warehouse in Elkhart, Indiana, was destroyed, though no injuries
were reported, WSBT-TV said.
Winds in southwest Ohio toppled a church steeple, damaged homes and
flipped campers Sunday night, authorities said. No injuries were
reported. At least four tornadoes were confirmed by the National
Weather Service.
Kentucky also saw at least three tornadoes Sunday, the weather
service confirmed on the social platform X. One hit Spencer County
in north-central Kentucky, tearing the roof off at least one barn.
Storm damage was reported in several counties in Tennessee,
including Maury and Humphreys, WSMV-TV reported. Humphreys County
Sheriff Chris Davis reported damage across the county, including a
roof torn off a house. The homeowners were trapped inside but not
injured. The National Weather Service confirmed on Facebook on
Monday at least four tornadoes in middle Tennessee.
Clusters of thunderstorms accompanied by strong to severe wind gusts
and perhaps a few tornadoes were spreading across much of the
Southeast on Monday, the National Weather Service said. In Dothan,
Alabama, five students suffered minor injuries when a storm caused
part of their school's gymnasium roof to collapse, news outlets
reported.
Flood watches have been issued for Wednesday through Sunday in 11
states, from northeast Texas through Arkansas and stretching to the
western edge of West Virginia. The weather service warned that up to
1 foot (30.5 centimeters) of rain in some areas “is not out of the
question. This is expected to be a high end event with
life-threatening flooding.”
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