Severe thunderstorms moved through Michigan overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, causing widespread damage and forcing evacuations in multiple areas of the state.

The storms damaged two ice arenas, including tearing part of the roof from the University of Michigan's Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor and causing structural damage to a wall at the city's Veterans Memorial Park Ice Arena. Wind gusts reached 70 mph at the university's football stadium at 1:49 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service, with additional gusts of 69 mph and 62 mph recorded at area airports.

The storms dumped up to 2.5 inches of rain across southeastern Michigan, flooding streets and neighborhoods. Ann Arbor public schools closed Wednesday due to structural damage, power outages, and what officials described as a fiber outage affecting fire, phone and camera systems. The district cited safety concerns from downed power lines, flooding, water main breaks, gas leaks, and fallen trees blocking safe passage.

In northern Michigan's Cheboygan County, officials issued an evacuation notice for low-lying areas following a levee breach in the Little Black River watershed. The breach occurred in an area northwest of Cheboygan and west of Lake Huron, with county emergency management officials stating it was not related to efforts to manage flow from the Cheboygan Dam as water levels continue rising from recent rainfall and snowmelt.

National Weather Service crews were surveying damage to determine if tornadoes touched down, though none had been confirmed as of Wednesday morning. Meteorologist Sara Schultz said the damage appeared to have been caused by a line of thunderstorms that moved into Michigan from Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois, with another round of potentially damaging storms expected to move through the area.