In brief: Five rescued from buildings damaged in Michigan storm

PORTLAND, Mich. – Five people were rescued from damaged buildings in a Michigan town, and thunderstorms packing strong winds caused damage in Iowa and Illinois as severe weather swept through parts of the Midwest on Monday.

A mother and two small children were rescued from a collapsed Goodwill store and two others were helped Monday afternoon from a damaged pharmacy in Portland, 25 miles northwest of the Michigan state capital of Lansing.

“We had people trapped in some of the buildings. They have been removed and are fine,” Portland Fire Chief John Baker told reporters.

The National Weather Service confirmed late Monday that Portland had been hit with a tornado rated EF1 with winds of around 100 mph.

The storm was part of a string of bad weather that hurtled into Michigan’s Lower Peninsula after rushing across the country’s Midwest. Other storms were causing damage in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

A wind gust of 95 mph was recorded near the small northwest Iowa town of Sheldon, destroying a hangar at the local airport.

Solar storm could cause power surges

WASHINGTON – A severe solar storm slammed Earth on Monday afternoon, increasing the chances of fluctuations in the power grid and GPS. It also pushes shimmering polar auroras to places where more people can possibly see them.

Federal forecasters said the Northern Lights may be able to be seen tonight as far south as Iowa or Pennsylvania.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a potent blast of magnetic plasma shot out of the sun on Sunday, traveling faster than usual, hitting Earth with the biggest solar storm since March, maybe since September 2005.

NOAA space weather physicist Doug Biesecker said there are no reports of damage, but the electrical grid and GPS probably had current fluctuations that they could handle.

He said the storm could last a day or longer.

Santa Barbara oil washed up in L.A.

LOS ANGELES – Tar from the Santa Barbara oil spill washed up at least as far away as a Los Angeles County beach last month, according to test results released Monday.

The findings confirmed what was suspected by many after globs of oil began swamping Southern California beaches in the weeks after a pipeline dumped up to 101,000 gallons of crude oil on the coast May 19.

Goo that washed up on beaches east and south of Santa Barbara was sent to labs for “fingerprint” analysis to determine if it came from the Plains All American Pipeline spill or from oil that seeps naturally from the seabed.

Tar balls are routinely found on beaches in the area, but the quantity and size forced officials to shut down popular surf and swim posts while they were cleaned up about 100 miles from where the spill entered the ocean at Refugio State Beach.

Three tar-ball samples taken in the Manhattan Beach area on May 27 were traced to the spill. Two of the sample results were reported by Plains, and one was reported by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Four of the samples that Plains had analyzed by scientists were consistent with natural seeps, the company said.