Columbus, Ohio – Storms slammed rain-soaked Ohio on Saturday, and hundreds of thousands of people in the Midwest were without power after their homes were battered by lashing winds and flooding rains.
Tornado warnings were issued Saturday for parts of central and southeastern Ohio. Downed trees and power lines were reported in the southern part of the state, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Hatzos.
Flooding last week spread across an 80-mile swath through the northwestern and north-central parts of the state. Gov. Ted Strickland toured some of the damaged areas Saturday.
“What I’ve tried to do, and what we’ve all tried to do, is let these folks know … that we are working to get assistance to them as rapidly as possible,” Strickland said.
Storms rolling through the Upper Midwest during most of the past week caused disastrous floods from southeastern Minnesota to Ohio that were blamed for at least 18 deaths.
In southern Michigan, the skies were clearing Saturday but more than 100,000 customers were without power, utilities said. The National Weather Service confirmed multiple tornadoes touched down Friday in a 12-mile area in Livingston, Genesee and Oakland counties.
Damage in Fenton was extensive, Mayor Sue Osborn said Saturday.
“I have seen houses that have trees go right through them,” she said.
Only residents were being allowed into the city, she said.
Matt McClanahan’s Cohoctah Township home was among at least 17 destroyed by a twister.
“I’ve seen devastation and I’ve helped clean up, but I’ve never seen it be me,” he said. “I bought a bottle of Jim Beam, and it’s in the house. I could really use a sip of that right now.”
About 100,000 customers in northern Illinois remained without power Saturday, ComEd said. It could take days to restore power to all customers, officials said.
The storms in Illinois were responsible for at least one death, a man struck by a wind-toppled tree, officials said. In addition, an autopsy was planned on a man found lying in more than 2 feet of water in his basement in suburban Inverness, officials said.
Rain had mostly stopped falling Saturday in northern Illinois as a line of storms moved east and south, and the floodwaters that had risen steadily slowed to a creep or began to drop in some areas.
