Wild weather blamed for deaths of 3 kids in Michigan and a man in an Amish buggy in Indiana

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — A tree fell on a van in Michigan, killing three children, during a fierce weekend storm that swept the region and contributed to the death of an 84-year-old man in an Amish buggy in Indiana, authorities said Monday.

Meanwhile, more potentially dangerous weather rolled across parts of the Southeastern U.S.

Trees and power lines were no match for freezing rain and extreme winds over the weekend, and utilities were gradually restoring power in Michigan, although 276,000 outages remained by Monday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us. Indiana and Wisconsin had trimmed their outages to roughly 80,000.

The victims of the fallen tree in Kalamazoo County were a 2-year-old girl, her 4-year-old brother and an 11-year-old girl who was their cousin. Three other people in the van were injured Sunday about 130 miles (209 kilometers) west of Detroit.

“The family could not have avoided this,” Sheriff Richard Fuller told reporters, adding that the tree struck the passenger area where the children were sitting.

“It was such a large tree that it came across two lanes of traffic and out the other side of the vehicle for about 12 more feet,” the sheriff said.

The area had been under a severe thunderstorm warning at the time, one of several Sunday in southern Michigan.

At roughly the same time, an Amish buggy in Middlebury, Indiana, flipped because of intense winds, killing Lonnie Yoder, police said.

Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula remained a mess Monday, with thousands of trees down because of freezing rain that struck Saturday. Police urged people to stay off roads. The Alpena News said it couldn't publish a newspaper because it had no power, like the rest of Alpena County.

The Mackinac Bridge, a 5-mile (8-kilometer) span connecting Michigan's two peninsulas, was shut down because of the danger of thick ice falling on cars from the bridge's towers and cables.

In Valparaiso, Indiana, investigators believe severe crosswinds blew over a tractor-trailer Sunday afternoon, killing the driver at the property of Pratt Industries, the Porter County sheriff’s office said. Jagbir Singh, 34, of Ontario, Canada, was found outside the passenger compartment.

A warehouse in Elkhart, Indiana, was destroyed, though no injuries were reported, WSBT-TV said.

Winds in southwest Ohio toppled a church steeple, damaged homes and flipped campers Sunday night, authorities said. No injuries were reported. At least four tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service.

Kentucky also saw at least three tornadoes Sunday, the weather service confirmed on the social platform X. One hit Spencer County in north-central Kentucky, tearing the roof off at least one barn.

Storm damage was reported in several counties in Tennessee, including Maury and Humphreys, WSMV-TV reported. Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis reported damage across the county, including a roof torn off a house. The homeowners were trapped inside but not injured. The National Weather Service confirmed on Facebook on Monday at least four tornadoes in middle Tennessee.

Clusters of thunderstorms accompanied by strong to severe wind gusts and perhaps a few tornadoes were spreading across much of the Southeast on Monday, the National Weather Service said. In Dothan, Alabama, five students suffered minor injuries when a storm caused part of their school's gymnasium roof to collapse, news outlets reported.

Flood watches have been issued for Wednesday through Sunday in 11 states, from northeast Texas through Arkansas and stretching to the western edge of West Virginia. The weather service warned that up to 1 foot (30.5 centimeters) of rain in some areas “is not out of the question. This is expected to be a high end event with life-threatening flooding.”

Downed tree branches are shown after an ice storm, Sunday, March 30, 2025 in Alpena, Mich. (Darby Hinkley/The Alpena News via AP)

A grain silo from a farm rests over 100 yards from where it once stood after a severe storm hit Sunday along 84th Street near Hanna Lake Avenue in Gaines Twp., Mich., Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

An uprooted tree leans on a home after a severe storm hit Sunday along Clear Lake in Barry County, Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Storm damage from severe weather on Sunday at a farm along 84th Street near Hanna Lake Avenue in Gaines Twp., Mich. on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A person assessing a barn roof that was damaged during a severe storm Sunday at a farm along 84th Street near Hanna Lake Avenue in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A barn that collapsed from Sunday's severe storm along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

An aerial image of a barn that collapsed after a severe storm hit Sunday along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Lineman bucket trucks parked outside the Holliday Inn following a severe storm that passed through in Kalamazoo Twp., Mich., Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A canopy toppled by severe weather sits outside the Marathon gas station along West Main Street near U.S. 131 in Kalamazoo Twp., Mich., Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Lineman bucket trucks parked outside the Holliday Inn following a severe storm that passed through in Kalamazoo Twp., Mich., Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A canopy toppled by severe weather sits outside the Marathon gas station along West Main Street near U.S. 131 in Kalamazoo Twp., Mich., Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A canopy toppled by severe weather sits outside the Marathon gas station along West Main Street near U.S. 131 in Kalamazoo Twp., Mich., Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Weekend storms that damaged a mobile home park in Franklin, Ohio, are seen Monday, March 31, 2025. (Nick Graham/Dayton Daily News via AP)

Weekend storms that toppled the steeple at Grace Baptist Church in Franklin, Ohio, is seen Monday, March 31, 2025. (Nick Graham/Dayton Daily News via AP)

Weekend storms that toppled the steeple at Grace Baptist Church in Franklin, Ohio, is seen Monday, March 31, 2025. (Nick Graham/Dayton Daily News via AP)

A tree lies fallen in the street near the intersection of Beech Street and Division Street on Sunday, March 30, 2025, after severe thunderstorms and high winds in East Lansing, Mich. (Arthur H. Trickett-Wile/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

A broken tree rests in a yard after a storm in Howell, Mich., Sunday, March 30, 2025. (Chad Livengood/Detroit News via AP)

A bush is coated with thick ice outside the National Weather Service office in Gaylord, Mich., Sunday, March 30, 2025, after freezing rain caused thousands of power outages in the region. (National Weather Service visa AP)

A tree lies fallen between two vehicles at a residence near the intersection of Beech Street and Division Street on Sunday, March 30, 2025, after severe thunderstorms and high winds in East Lansing, Mich. (Arthur H. Trickett-Wile/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

A tree lies fallen between two vehicles at a residence near the intersection of Beech Street and Division Street on Sunday, March 30, 2025, after severe thunderstorms and high winds in East Lansing, Mich. (Arthur H. Trickett-Wile/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

A tree lies fallen atop the rear section of a car near the intersection of Beech Street and Division Street on Sunday, March 30, 2025, after severe thunderstorms and high winds in East Lansing, Mich. (Arthur H. Trickett-Wile/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

A large tree lies on top of a mobile home at Millwood Estates on East Cork Street after a storm Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Kalamazoo, Mich. (Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A large tree rests on top of a mobile home at Millwood Estates on East Cork Street after a storm Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Kalamazoo, Mich. (Brad Devereaux/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

BAD SCHANDAU, Germany (AP) — Germany's reputation for efficiency is taking a hit from crumbling concrete. Cracks and collapses are also a risk to its economy, Europe's biggest.

The European Union's most populous member is trying to turn around a problem with worn-out infrastructure — including about 4,000 bridges that need modernizing or replacing over the next decade. All too frequently, unexpected scares about the state of bridges cause short-notice closures that bring local gridlock. Occasionally, it is worse than that.

In Dresden, a bridge dating back to 1971 partially collapsed in the middle of the night in September due to corrosion. No one was hurt, but the collapse snarled traffic and temporarily blocked shipping on the Elbe River. The remains of the Carola bridge have yet to be removed.

The collapse prompted checks on similarly designed bridges — including one in Bad Schandau, a small town further up the Elbe near the Czech border. It was shut abruptly to all traffic in November as a precaution, leaving locals with a 20-kilometer (12 1/2-mile) trip to the nearest road crossing until it reopened on Thursday — albeit with a 7.5-ton weight limit.

“The closure of this bridge was an absolute catastrophe for people in Bad Schandau,” said Steffen Marx, a civil engineering professor who led ultimately successful stress tests on the bridge. “It's the classic gridlock ... this is the only crossing along nearly 50 kilometers (30 miles) of river.”

Even as the situation eases in Bad Schandau, Berliners are steaming over the abrupt closure last month of a bridge on a busy highway after a widening crack was detected. It will now be demolished quickly. The outage snarled traffic in a large section of the capital, forced the weeks-long closure of a commuter railway line and prompted the government to cough up 150 million euros ($164 million) for its urgent rebuilding.

“The Germans are very good engineers. You would think that everything works,” said Monika Schnitzer, the head of an independent panel of economic advisers to the government. “At the same time, the Germans are also very good at saving — and they saved for a very long time particularly on this infrastructure, on bridges.”

Germany's prospective new government has moved to address the issue before it even takes office. Last month, the would-be coalition under conservative leader Friedrich Merz pushed through parliament a 500 billion-euro ($551 billion) fund, financed by borrowing, to pour money into creaking infrastructure over the next 12 years. Politicians see that as part of efforts to restore the stagnant economy to growth.

It's not just bridges: There are also decrepit schools, and a national railway has begun thorough but disruptive overhauls of major routes after years of underinvestment. Complaints about frequent delays and breakdowns on the railway have become a national sport.

The coalition agreement presented Wednesday states that “functioning infrastructure is the foundation for our country's prosperity, social cohesion and sustainability. So Germany needs an infrastructure booster — that applies to hospitals and schools as well as bridges and railways.”

On the roads, it promises that money will be provided “to resolve the renovation backlog on bridges and tunnels in particular.”

The outgoing government says a large number of bridges were already modernized under a program under way since 2022. But much remains to be done.

“Now that there's money, a growth spurt could actually be generated very quickly,” Schnitzer said. “But what is really necessary for this is that the money is spent quickly. And for that, we need much faster planning and approval procedures than we had so far.”

She noted that Germany has proven it can speed up its planning bureaucracy, notably in building its first liquefied natural gas terminals within months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequently cut off pipeline gas supplies to Germany.

Outgoing government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit pointed this week to the availability of construction companies and machines as a hurdle to quick bridge repairs and said Germany is “at its capacity limit.”

Marx said the situation of Germany's infrastructure is “quite critical.”

“It isn’t so much because we don’t invest enough — that’s one reason,” he said. “But from my point of view, the main reason is that we don’t take enough care of things. That we just don’t maintain infrastructure and we do far too little cleaning, repairing, strengthening, all things we do in our private buildings.”

He added that the huge new infrastructure fund is necessary, but he's concerned the money will be put only into demolishing and rebuilding the worst bridges rather than ensuring that others never get into that state.

“You can't win political points with maintenance and preservation — it's boring and not really spectacular,” Marx said. “But it becomes spectacular when you neglect it.”

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Passers-by and cars cross the Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau to mark the opening to traffic, in Dresden, Germany, Thursday April 10, 2025. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

Cars cross the Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau to mark the opening to traffic, in Dresden, Germany, Thursday April 10, 2025. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

A traffic engineering vehicle crosses the Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau to mark the opening to traffic, in Dresden, Germany, Thursday April 10, 2025. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

Cars parked next to the closed Elbe bridge a few days before its inauguration, in Bad Schandau, Germany, Friday March 28, 2025. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

Weights are placed at the foot of the closed Elbe bridge as part of a load test, during a the three-day load test intended to show that the Elbe crossing can be reopened to traffic, in Bad Schandau, Germany, Tuesday April 1, 2025. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)

FILE - Parts of the Carola Bridge over the Elbe is seen collapsed in Dresden, eastern Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP, File)

FILE - Experts stand in front of an excavator on the partially collapsed Carola Bridge on the Neustadt side during works, in Dresden, Germany, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP, File)

FILE - Parts of the Carola Bridge over the Elbe have collapsed in Dresden, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP, File)

A heavy-duty module loaded with weights drives over the closed Elbe bridge as part of a three-day load test intended to show that the Elbe crossing can be reopened to traffic, in Bad Schandau, Germany, Tuesday April 1, 2025. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)