Suspected tornadoes kill 6 in Michigan, Oklahoma : NPR

A volunteer works to clean up debris a day after a storm brought a tornado to the area in Union City, Michigan, on Saturday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

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Nam Y. Huh/AP

Authorities in southern Michigan were sifting through rubble and debris Saturday after suspected tornadoes tore through the region and killed four people, including a 12-year-old boy, during powerful storms also blamed for two deaths in eastern Oklahoma.

First responders from several agencies were in the Union Lake area near Union City, searching for other possible victims and clearing roads, authorities said. Photos and videos posted on social media showed razed homes and felled trees in a lakeside neighborhood.

Severe thunderstorms that began in northern Indiana appeared to spawn several tornadoes in southern Michigan on Friday, said Lonnie Fisher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, who sent crews to the area Saturday to assess damage and confirm the tornadoes.

“It’s very likely that there were three separate tornadoes, but we won’t know 100 percent until the investigation is complete,” Fisher said Saturday, adding that the storms quickly intensified in southern Michigan after hitting northern Indiana.

The threat of severe weather continued Saturday across the central part of the country, with strong thunderstorms possible extending from Texas and the Northeast to Ohio and western Pennsylvania and New York.

Three people were killed and 12 others injured in the Union Lake area, according to the Branch County Sheriff’s Office.

Lisa Piper stood on her back deck and filmed a terrifying scene that unfolded across frozen Lake Union as a funnel cloud formed and then fell toward the ground. Trees were ripped from their roots and debris flew into the air.

“It lifts houses!” she said. As the devastation continued, she exclaimed, “Oh, my heart is pounding. Oh, I hope they’re okay.”

Volunteers work to remove branches and trees downed by a storm that caused a tornado the day before in Union City, Michigan, on Saturday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

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Nam Y. Huh/AP

About 50 miles (81 kilometers) southwest of Union Lake, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said a 12-year-old boy died and several other people were injured in a possible tornado. Sheriff Clint Roach said in a Facebook post that Silas Anderson’s parents found him injured and gave him first aid, but he later died at the hospital.

Emergency responders were going door to door in the Union City and Three Rivers areas offering meals and cleaning supplies, state officials said. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would declare a state of emergency in Branch, Cass and St. Joseph counties.

In Oklahoma, just south of Tulsa, a tornado in Beggs was blamed for the deaths of two people at a home Friday, the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office said. Two other people were taken to hospital.

The tornado caused damage across about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) of Okmulgee County, including Beggs, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tulsa, said Jeff Moore, county emergency manager. Large trees were toppled and power outages were reported.

Suspected tornadoes were also reported in northern parts of Tulsa, where a building on the Tulsa Tech Peoria campus was damaged.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Saturday he had declared a state of emergency in several counties to free up support and resources for affected areas.

The deaths in Oklahoma came a day after storms killed a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter in Fairview, in the western part of the state. Authorities said they were found dead in a vehicle.

In a bizarre scene filmed Thursday, a first responder headed straight into a storm near Fairview, where lightning illuminated a giant funnel that appeared to reach the ground. That storm, one of the first displays of severe weather heading into the spring storm season, was captured on camera by a camera mounted on the congressman’s car.

The National Weather Service said strong storms and flash flooding risks extended from the Great Lakes to Texas on Saturday. A tornado watch issued for much of Arkansas and parts of Texas and Louisiana expired in the morning.

Spring storms approach the start of what many call tornado season, which typically begins at different times in different parts of the United States. Experts recommend some simple safety measures to take before tornadoes strike, including having a weather radio and a plan for where to take shelter.

In parts of the southern United States, weather conditions are also expected to bring extremely hot temperatures for this time of year by the weekend.