National Weather Service confirms 4 tornadoes hit Michigan on Tuesday — Here's where, and how strong

(WWJ) The National Weather Service has now confirmed that four tornadoes hit West Michigan on Tuesday, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

In an update Thursday, the NWS said it is still assessing damage from three tornadoes that hit south of Kalamazoo. The first tornado, rated EF-1 , formed in Cass County, near Decatur . That tornado touched down in a field and stayed on the ground for 11 miles, damaging and uprooting hundreds of trees. One barn was also damaged.

An NWS survey team concluded that another tornado — a stronger EF-2 —packed 130-miles per hour winds as it hit Centerville and Colon in St. Joseph County . The track and damage hasn't been finalized for that twister.

In Union City, in Branch County, NWS said a brief EF-1 tornado that hit Union City had top winds of 95 miles per hour and was on the ground for about a mile.

These three twisters are in addition to an EF-2 tornado that touched down in Kalamazoo County's Portage , doing significant damage to homes, a strip mall, and a FedEx facility. With estimated peak winds of 135 mph, this tornado was about 300 yards wide and was on the ground for about 11 miles, according to the NWS.

While a trained weather spotter said a second tornado touched down in Portage about an hour later, that second Portage tornado has not been officially confirmed by NWS.

Reporting from Portage, WWJ's Charlie Langton said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was there touring the hardest-hit neighborhoods on Thursday. While many residents are cleaning up, many others have been displaced.

"Officials say that 176 homes were damaged, with a hundred families displaced," Langton reported. "The Red Cross and churches have opened shelters, or their doors, to those families. And over 200 utility poles — we could see them yesterday in big trucks being replaced."

"They have 160 crews from Consumers Energy there; another 70 crews working on electric lines and gas lines as well there."

Whitmer has declared a state of emergency for Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Branch, and Cass counties. The declaration makes available all state resources in cooperation with local response and recovery efforts in the designated area, and authorizes the Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division to coordinate state efforts above and beyond what MSP/EMHSD has already been doing in conjunction with local agencies.