STREATOR, Ill., June 6 (UPI) -- Operators of a nuclear power plant in Michigan said they shut down early Sunday during a powerful storm system that produced tornadoes that killed five people. The storms were rolling into the Northeast Sunday afternoon, triggering tornado watches from Virginia to New England.
The Fermi 2 Power Plant near Monroe, Mich., shut down automatically after the foul weather knocked out one of two offsite power feeds to the plant. DTE Energy said in a written statement that a low-priority alert was also generated after the winds knocked some siding off a building at the complex, but there was no radiation danger.
Elsewhere, the death toll in Ohio rose to five as rescuers checked the damage in Wood County. A twister touched down in the area south of Toledo, killing a 4-year-old child and two people caught in a vehicle, CNN reported.
Tornadoes also touched down in central Illinois and other parts of Ohio, causing extensive damage in small towns, including Streator, which one witness told the Chicago Tribune had been "devastated."