CHICAGO — Severe storms swept across the Midwest on Tuesday, flipping vehicles, damaging homes and knocking out electricity for hundreds of thousands of customers as powerful winds, tornadoes and flooding struck parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
The National Weather Service said preliminary information indicated the storm system that moved from Iowa into Indiana qualified as a derecho, a long-lived line of thunderstorms capable of producing widespread destructive winds. A wind gust of 99 mph was recorded in Gary, Indiana, while other locations reported gusts of 80 mph or higher.
In Columbus, Ohio, strong winds flipped a moving car on Interstate 71 near Weber Road as a tornado-warned storm passed through the area, according to footage from Ohio Department of Transportation cameras. Visibility dropped sharply before the vehicle tipped onto its side.
The storms also brought tornado warnings, heavy rainfall and flash flooding. The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes just south of Chicago, while photographs from communities in the Chicago area and northwestern Indiana showed flooded roads, downed trees and damaged homes.
Power outages spread across the region as winds brought down trees and utility lines. More than 600,000 customers in Illinois and Indiana had lost electricity, according to PowerOutage.us, while at least 250,000 customers in Ohio were also without power. A separate storm-tracking report put the regional outage total at nearly 875,000 customers as the system moved east.
Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports temporarily halted flights as the storms moved through, creating delays as operations resumed. In Cincinnati, tornado warnings were issued and about 40,000 Duke Energy customers were reported without power, while travelers at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport sheltered in place.
Ohio officials also reported storm-related injuries and a death. Sixteen incarcerated people were hospitalized after lightning struck at the Grafton Reintegration Center southwest of Cleveland, according to Ohio Department of Corrections spokesperson JoEllen Smith. One person in Roseville died during a health emergency after flooding prevented first responders from reaching them, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said.
The National Weather Service warned that additional severe weather and heavy rain could continue as the system moved southeast. Forecasters said damaging winds and large hail remained possible across parts of the Midwest and Ohio Valley, with flooding threats persisting into Wednesday.
