The National Weather Service is confirming a tornado touched down in Eaton County during Thursday night’s severe weather, but survey crews have not yet arrived in the area to determine how powerful the storm was.
Forecasters say radar data was enough to confirm the tornado.
Meanwhile, emergency management officials in Eaton and neighboring Ingham County have been spending the day surveying damage from the storms.
Eaton County Emergency Manager Ryan Wilkinson said trees are down and a county road commission supply barn was severely damaged.
A Charlotte venue for weddings, concerts and other events was also hit by the storm. A social media post from Hidden Creek Farms says the tornado demolished a historic barn on the 100-acre property, but the event space and an old farmhouse are still standing.
Two other homes and smaller buildings at the site were damaged, according to the post.
In Ingham County, Deputy Emergency Manager Rob Dale found similar issues, with power outages and closed roads in several areas.
“We’ve got another round of potential thunderstorms coming this evening, so the concern is getting what we can done now before a potential another round of storms comes later on.”
Dale says the storm damage caused power outages for roughly 20% of Ingham County residents.
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