3-year-old killed, mother injured after tree falls on Livonia home from severe storm

FOX 2 (WJBK) - Severe storm damage in Livonia has killed a 3-year-old, and injured his mother after a tree fell on a house Wednesday afternoon.

A tree collapsed onto the home fatally injuring the 3-year-old. The mother, who was lying in bed with the child at the time, was injured and is hospitalized in critical condition. 

The National Weather Service said a suspected low-level EF-1 tornado was confirmed.

Livonia Fire got the call at 3:37 p.m. as crews from Fire Station Six was dispatched to the 14000 block of Houghton for the call of a tree down on a house. 

Fire Chief Robert Jennison said that the massive tree was uprooted and fell on the house, landing on a bed in the bedroom, where a mother and her 2-year-old were laying, and pinned them.

Jennison said the rescue effort took about a dozen chainsaws and 25 firefighters cutting the tree to pieces until the weight was taken off, allowing the massive trunks to be lifted. The entire effort took about an hour.

"All available units in the city were dispatched to the scene," he said. "A special call for the Western Wayne County Search and Rescue team was made and crews worked tirelessly for over an hour, removing parts of the tree and lifting the tree with high-pressure airbags to extricate the victims."

A 2-week-old was in a crib in a separate room not affected by the tree, but was transported along with the grandmother to St. Mary's Hospital, Jennison said.

The quick-moving storm left a swath of damage through the area of Newburgh and Schoolcraft. 

"Obviously this was a very dramatic scene," Jennison said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of the victims. This was a tough day."

Strong winds came through the area and lasted about 20 minutes, residents say.

The winds uprooted large trees by the dozens, with one of them landing on the home and pinning the mother and two children, killing the 2-year-old.

The massive cleanup effort is underway with a variety of roads closed in the area as DPW crews hit the streets. Brian Kahn, the Homeland Security officer for Livonia, said that neighboring cities are sending help to ease the effort.

"It was crazy, it does look like a tornado," said Lisa McLeod. "I think in 2013 or 2014 we had one that kind of zig-zagged through the neighborhood and took tons of trees out - that is kind of what it looks like."

Debra Eisel says the severe storms came as a complete surprise.

"We had no warning," she said. "Usually the sirens would go off for tornado warnings, we had no warning at all. It just hit us like, boom." 

No tornado has been officially recorded yet, the National Weather Service is reviewing the incident.

EiselI says she was in the bedroom on the computer and heard something hit the house. She said her husband saw a tree swirling in the air. 

"I heard there was a child under a tree. I don’t know the story about that," she said.

Widespread power outages are being reported in the area. Outages are along Six Mile Road from Inkster to Newburgh.

Stay up to date with the DTE Energy outage map HERE. 

Stay with FOX 2 for more information as it becomes available.