Fast-moving storms pummeled parts of the Midwest Monday with hail, strong wind and heavy rain, flooding streets and stranding commuters in multiple states, according to the National Weather Service and local officials.
The National Weather Service said more than 56 million people in the Midwest and parts of the South were at risk of severe storms, and tornado warnings were posted for southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northern Arkansas. The storm activity followed rounds of violent weather over the weekend.
In Michigan, a thunderstorm that whipped through Kent County produced powerful winds that led to a fatal tree fall, the Kent County sheriff’s office said in a statement. The sheriff’s office said the tree landed on a 39-year-old man who had been outside with friends, and the storm resulted in dozens of downed trees and wires.
The sheriff’s office said the friends told authorities that the man warned them to move just before the tree came down, and they believed his actions likely prevented more of them from being struck.
Across the region, outages and cleanup needs spread as winds and rain knocked out power. The storms left more than 250,000 people without electricity Monday night across Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, with at least some utilities reporting partial restorations.
In Wisconsin, We Energies said it restored power to more than 35,000 customers, but thousands more remained without electricity. Milwaukee said it had nearly 100 emergency calls for downed trees and branches as streets became blocked by uprooted trees.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the fire department responded to 11 water rescues from vehicles starting shortly before 6 a.m., Battalion Chief Riley Nolan said in an email. Nolan said most of the rescues occurred in the city’s “high-water” areas after heavy rains, and he said no boats were required and no injuries were reported.
Meteorologists tied the risk in part to atmospheric conditions. Evan Bentley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, said temperatures near 80 degrees Fahrenheit and other factors were contributing to “atmospheric instability,” and the storm environment reflected a continuation of unsettled weather patterns after the weekend’s violent events.
Local disruptions also included school closures. Hundreds of schools in the St. Louis area closed early, and many after-school activities were canceled. The National Weather Service reported that 3.2 inches (8.1 centimeters) of rain fell in a six-hour period ending shortly before 7 a.m. at Kansas City International Airport.
The storm sequence included tornado activity earlier in the weekend as well. In northern Texas, authorities said a tornado-producing thunderstorm left at least two people dead and displaced at least 20 families, with many homes sustaining major damage. The National Weather Service said it confirmed an EF-2 tornado with peak winds of 135 mph (217 kph) in the Runaway Bay area on Saturday and an EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 105 mph (169 kph) in the Springtown area.