A powerful line of severe thunderstorms spawned a damaging wind event known as a derecho and tore through the Midwest on Tuesday, spawning a possible tornado along Interstate 71, flipping a car in Columbus, Ohio, and leaving more than 800,000 without power by Wednesday morning.
Ohio Department of Transportation cameras along I-71 near Weber Road captured the tornado-warned storm sweeping through the area. Visibility dropped to near zero before a car could be seen flipping as the storm passed.
The severe weather that roared through Ohio on Tuesday morning was one of multiple lines of intense thunderstorms that swept through the Midwest and Ohio Valley throughout the day.
Around 10:45 a.m. CT, tornado sirens sounded across Chicago as a separate line of powerful storms moved through the city.
Tuesday’s event spanned more than 600 miles from eastern Iowa to northern Indiana, creating straight-line winds, with a home weather station in Kane, Illinois, recording a 97-mph gust and another report in Gary, Indiana, of a 99-mph gust.
Get Your AccuWeather ForecastThe National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said Tuesday’s storm met the criteria of a derecho, sometimes known as an “inland hurricane” due to its strong winds and appearance on radar. A derecho must span at least 400 miles (about 650 km) with a width of at least 60 miles (about 100 km), according to the SPC, and include wind gusts of at least 58 mph along most of its path, with isolated gusts of at least 75 mph.
The day kicked off with at least three EF1 tornadoes in Iowa confirmed by the National Weather Service office in Davenport between 7:30 and 7:50 a.m. CDT.
More than 800,000 customers were without power early Wednesday from Indiana to Ohio, according to PowerOutage.us. Dozens of reports of snapped trees and downed power poles stretched from Iowa to Ohio.
Torrential rain accompanied the severe weather, leaving vehicles and buildings surrounded by floodwater in parts of Ohio. The National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Emergency for Perry County.
Severe weather turns deadly in Ohio and Indiana
A 4-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on his family’s home in Geneva, Indiana, according to the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office.
Police in Portage, Indiana, said one person died during a house fire amid the severe weather. City officials said first responders were delayed in getting to the fire because of widespread storm damage, debris and hazardous conditions.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said a person died in Roseville during a health emergency and first responders could not reach them due to flooding. Southwest of Cleveland, lightning struck a prison complex, injuring 16 people who were hospitalized, according to the Ohio Department of Corrections. Four remain hospitalized, according to DeWine.
The severe weather threat will not end with Tuesday’s storms. AccuWeather meteorologists expect severe thunderstorms to shift farther south on Wednesday, extending from central Illinois to the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. Damaging winds will remain the primary concern, with an AccuWeather StormMax™ wind gust of 80 mph.
Repeated rounds of torrential rain could pose an even greater danger in parts of the Ohio Valley and Appalachians through Thursday night.