A multi-day severe weather outbreak spanning 1,500 miles has ripped through the Heartland, killing at least six people on Friday in Michigan and Oklahoma. FOX Weather Correspondent Robert Ray is in Oklahoma as storms are continuing to fire, threatening millions today.
Destructive tornadoes have ripped through the Heartland, killing at least 8 this week amid a catastrophic trail of widespread destruction on Thursday and Friday.
This devastation is part of a multi-day severe weather outbreak that continues today as severe storms are charging across more than 1,500 miles from the Northeast to Texas and impacting over 90 million people.
LIVE UPDATES: DEATH TOLL CLIMBS AS MONSTER TORNADOES RIP THROUGH HEARTLAND
On Friday, tornadoes swept through Michigan and Oklahoma, claiming six lives and raising the death toll from these deadly storms to eight.
The ravaging storms—including powerful winds sometimes exceeding 80 mph, damaging hail, and intense tornadoes—leveled homes, tore apart communities, and left neighborhoods in ruins across parts of the Midwest and Plains.
Devastating tornado damage in Union City, Michigan
(517Drone Video and Photography)
Images from the affected areas reveal the staggering scale of destruction as tornadoes ripped roofs off homes and structures in a matter of minutes.
🌪️ ROOF RIPPER: A destructive tornado tears through Three Rivers, Michigan, ripping roofs off businesses and leaving parts of the city in ruins. pic.twitter.com/daxqrcL7xY
— FOX Weather (@foxweather) March 6, 2026
Union County, Michigan, was among one of the hard hitters as Sheriff Blankenship urged citizens to avoid affected areas to allow emergency personnel to work efficiently, warning for ongoing power outages.
A Union City church — just one of the many structures tarnished— is left in shambles after Friday’s severe weather outbreak.
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Tornado damages church in Union City, MI, Friday, March 6
(KRISTEN RIEDER) -
Tornado damages church in Union City, MI, Friday, March 6
(KRISTEN RIEDER) -
Tornado damages church in Union City, MI, Friday, March 6
(KRISTEN RIEDER) -
Tornado damages church in Union City, MI, Friday, March 6
(KRISTEN RIEDER) -
Tornado damages church in Union City, MI, Friday, March 6
(KRISTEN RIEDER)
Tornado surveys are underway to fully assess the damage and precisely determine the intensity and paths of the storms.
Devastating tornado caught on camera in Union City, Michigan
(Lisa Nicola / FOX Weather)
States of Emergency and/or Emergency Operations in Michigan, Texas, and Missouri were declared Friday as well.
Severe storms pushes east on Saturday with more tornadoes possible
The severe weather threat expands Saturday with a level 1 out of 5 threat for severe storms in place across the entire path — from the Great Lakes and Northeast down into Texas.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TORNADO WATCH AND WARNING?
Over 90 million people are in this zone, and within this area, the FOX Forecast Center said two regions of higher severe storm potential will emerge — the Ohio Valley into western New York and West Virginia and Texas/Lower Mississippi Valley.
(FOX Weather)
While the tornado threat will be lower, numerous reports of damaging wind and large hail are expected, with winds potentially topping 60 mph.
Pittsburgh and Erie, PA, and Akron and Columbus, OH, are some of the cities that are in the tornado threat, where there is a chance for some of these to be strong EF-2+.
All that said, millions remain on high alert as the deadly weather is not over yet and Tornado Watches continue as the storms charge east.
