SPC Tornado Database · NWS Storm Events

The June 8, 1953 F5 Tornado in Michigan, near Flushing

The Flushing tornado in the federal records: its 19-mile path, the toll, the 12 tornadoes of that day and the cities nearby.

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated October 26, 2026

On June 8, 1953 an F5 tornado in Michigan killed 116 people and injured 844, the 2nd deadliest of the 73,458 tornadoes in the SPC record since 1950. Its path was 18.9 miles long and up to 833 yards wide. It came within 2 miles of Flushing, MI, and within 25 miles of 48 cities on this site. It was one of 12 tornadoes recorded that day in 3 states, 7 of them EF3 or stronger, which together killed 142.

Rating: F5
Killed / injured: 116 / 844
Path: 19 mi
Tornadoes that day: 12

FEMA declared a major disaster (6, "Tornado") on June 9, 1953, covering 1 designated area.

Cities within 25 miles of the path

Cities nearest the tornado's path
City	Distance from the path
Mount Morris, MI	under 1 mi
Otisville, MI	1 mi
Columbiaville, MI	2 mi
Flushing, MI	2 mi
Clio, MI	4 mi
Fostoria, MI	6 mi
Montrose, MI	6 mi
Flint, MI	7 mi
New Lothrop, MI	7 mi
Millington, MI	8 mi
Davison, MI	8 mi
Lennon, MI	9 mi

The nearest 12 of 48. Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (path from start to end point), FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

More notable storms

All notable storms →Michigan storm history →

Why these storms and how each figure is counted: methodology.