Severe weather has caused mass destruction across several states, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power. Parts of the Midwest and the South were under tornado watches into Tuesday night, including Parts of Ohio , Pennsylvania , Kentucky , Mississippi , Alabama , Tennessee , West Virginia , Virginia, and Georgia. In Northeastern Oklahoma , three tornadoes touched down followed by heavy rain, which has been blamed for the death of a 46-year-old homeless woman from Tulsa who was sheltering inside a drainage pipe.
Wisconsin also suffered from severe spring snow storms. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 100,000 people in West Virginia were without power, or 14% of the population, per poweroutage.us. In Charleston, West Virginia, a storm tore off a portion of the roof of an abandoned building, leaving bricks all over the street and blocking traffic. Uprooted trees littered lawns, roads, and even the tops of cars. Governor Jim Justice declared several counties in West Virginia to be in a state of emergency.
Kentucky has also declared a state of emergency following the severe storms and tornadoes that came Tuesday morning. ‘We have reports of substantial damage to a number of structures — and thankfully, as of right now we are not aware of any fatalities,’ Governor Andy Beshear said in a statement. More storms bulldozed through Kentucky Tuesday afternoon, which led to tornado warnings across Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Lexington, Kentucky Mayor Linda Gorton told local ABC affiliate WLEX-TV that a tree fell on someone’s house, injuring them and sending them to the hospital.
A tree toppled onto a University of Kentucky student’s car, causing damage to homes. ‘I looked out my blinds and I see the wind just start roaring,’ Reese Sherrard told WLEX. ‘I see one big tree just fall right on top of my car. No trees fell on our house, so it seems like we got pretty lucky.’ Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville said on Tuesday night that there had been ‘serious’ storm damage in the county as well as in the neighboring city of Prospect.
While no injuries have been recorded, Greenberg said that he had issued a state of emergency for the entire county and that fire crews were going door to door in the hardest-hit areas to check on residents. On Tuesday, the National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes in northeast Tennessee. Sunbright, a town with a population of around 500, particularly suffered the consequences as downed powerlines, trees, and route closures wreaked havoc in the small town. Sunbright’s funeral home and several residences were also damaged from the weather.
About 40,000 homes and businesses in Memphis, Tennessee, lost power for a brief period on Tuesday morning, according to the utility company. This was caused by lightning striking an electric substation, which in turn damaged two other substations. Firefighters rescued two people who were sleeping beneath a bridge in Ohio when the Scioto River’s water levels started to rise. Unable to return to shore, the Columbus Fire Department sent a rescue boat to save them, and both were reported uninjured.
Mindy Broughton, who lives in an RV park close to Hanging Rock, Ohio, hurried into her mobile home on Tuesday morning as hail started to fall and the wind started to pick up. Broughton’s fiancé shielded her as the winds outside started rocking their mobile home. ‘I said I think we may die today,’ she told AP News.
When the wind reseeded moments later, the couple went outside to see other trailers in the park overturned. Thankfully, they said no one was in the mobile homes when they toppled over. Part of Interstate 75 just northeast of Cincinnati was blocked when about a half-dozen power poles fell over from the high winds Tuesday afternoon, local NBC affiliate WLWT-TV reported.
Forecasters in Wisconsin cautioned that eastern areas of the state, including the Green Bay area, could receive more than a foot of heavy snowfall. Central Wisconsin could see snowfall between 4 to 8 inches while eastern Wisconsin could see 8 to 14 inches, per the National Weather Service. Wind gusts are expected to reach 50 mph. Wisconsin currently has more than 100,000 people without power.
Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.