Fierce Storm Slams Michigan Campground, Kills 1

Last Updated 2:45 p.m. ET

The National Weather Service confirmed Monday that a tornado hit an eastern Michigan campground, overturning trailers and scattering furniture, bikes and debris, leaving in its wake one person dead and four injured.

The tornado, packing estimated wind gusts of 95 mph, struck the Fort Trodd Family Campground in St. Clair County's Clyde Township shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, said meteorologist Steve Freitag of the weather service's White Lake Township office.

James Anderson, 75, of Mount Clemens was killed, said Sheriff Tim Donnellon, who declined to release further details until an autopsy was performed. Four people were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

Several camping trailers were blown onto their roofs and sides. Many others were damaged, including the 30-foot camper where Diana Gawronski and her husband, Ed, were when they saw the sky turning dark.

"The rain came, the wind came and that was it," said Gawronski, 67, of Warren. The couple "hit the floor, bounced around and then it was over." Gawronski said her camper stayed upright but suffered significant damage, including losing a screened-in room and the furniture it contained.

One trailer landed in a large pond on the private campground, which features 80 to 100 campsites about 65 miles north of Detroit. A dive team searched the water as a precaution Sunday night even after authorities said all campground visitors were accounted for.

Jerry Dyer, one of the Clyde Township campground's managers, said he was watching the Weather Channel in his camper when he saw a high-wind warning flash on the screen. He immediately headed for the door to warn campers.

"No sooner I got to the door - kaboom! - the rain hit," Dyer said. "It came out of nowhere."

Mike Richter, another weather service meteorologist, said Monday that the fast-developing storm did not give authorities a chance to notify people in advance. The National Weather Service had issued multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings across the southern part of the state Sunday.

"It was gone as quickly as it developed," Richter said of the storm that overturned several camping trailers.

The Red Cross was at the campground Sunday night providing aid and making arrangements for a small number of people who did not have a place to stay. Donnellon said no one was allowed back into the campground for the night.

Dyer said he'd gotten to know Anderson, the storm's single fatality, through impromptu "campfire jams" where Dyer would sing and play the guitar; Anderson would request songs from the late 1960s and 70s.

Conrad Dzialo, 69, of Dearborn Heights, said he and his wife had left the campground to visit their grandson when he got a call from a friend about what happened. He returned to find his trailer on its side.

"I didn't realize there was so much devastation," he said after surveying the site.

The National Weather Service separately confirmed at least two tornados in Michigan's south.

A tornado in the New Boston area, in Wayne County about 35 miles southwest of Detroit, damaged several homes and destroyed two garages. Richter said the EF-1 tornado touched down at 2:31 EDT Sunday, spanned 200 yards and traveled about 1.4 miles at 105 mph.

The weather service said another tornado touched down Sunday afternoon just south of Gobles in Van Buren County, smashing a camping trailer into a home, tearing the roof off a metal outbuilding and uprooting trees.

The Van Buren County sheriff's department said Monday that no injuries were reported.

DTE Energy Co. spokesman Eileen Dixon said about 600 Detroit Edison customers should have power restored by noon Monday after 4,700 were blacked out Sunday. CMS Energy Corp. spokesman Jay Jacobs said power has been restored to all the 4,000 Consumers Energy customers who been left without power.