After deadly Oklahoma tornado, forecasters warn Midwest to brace for more weather

DETROIT (AP) — Severe storms battered the Midwest on Tuesday, unleashing a curtain of heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes throughout the region a day after a deadly twister ripped through a small Oklahoma town and killed at least one person.

Tornadoes were spotted after dark Tuesday in parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, while portions of Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri were also under a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters warned that the storms could stretch late into the night with the possibility of more twisters and large hail.

In southwestern Michigan, two tornadoes blitzed the city of Portage near Kalamazoo. The city said in a news release that no serious injuries had been reported despite the twisters severely damaging homes and commercial buildings, including a FedEx facility.

An estimated 50 people were trapped inside the facility at one point because of downed power lines, authorities said. But FedEx spokesperson Shannon Davis said late Monday that “all team members are safe and accounted for.”

Meanwhile, entire homes were destroyed in a nearby mobile home park.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center has cited more than a dozen reports of tornadoes from Monday evening through early Tuesday in the central part of the United States. Eight of the twisters were in Oklahoma, while Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Tennessee all saw at least one tornado.

The powerful storms come amid a wild swing in severe weather across the globe that includes some of the worst-ever flooding in Brazil and a brutal Asian heat wave.

The deadly tornado that touched down Monday night in Oklahoma ripped through the 1,000-person town of Barnsdall, about a 40-minute drive north of Tulsa. The National Weather Service there had warned Monday evening that “a large and life-threatening tornado” was headed toward Barnsdall and the nearby town of Bartlesville.

It was the second tornado to hit Barnsdall in five weeks — a twister on April 1 with maximum wind speeds of 90 to 100 mph (145 to 161 kph) damaged homes and blew down trees and power poles.

Barnsdall Mayor Johnny Kelley said one person was dead while one man