Severe storms moved through the Midwest on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds a day after tornadoes in the southern Plains killed at least one person and damaged dozens of homes.
About 13.5 million people in parts of Indiana, northern Kentucky and western Ohio were warned about an enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms through Tuesday evening, with the possibility of strong tornadoes and large hail, according to the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.
The roughly 60,000-square-mile area could also experience frequent lightning and strong wind gusts, according to the Weather Service.
As storms moved through the region Tuesday afternoon, the Weather Service issued a string of tornado warnings in cities across Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
A larger section of the Midwest, encompassing nearly 16 million people across portions of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, was facing a slight risk of severe weather Tuesday.
Aaron Updike, a meteorologist for the service in Indianapolis, one of the cities under an enhanced risk, said severe weather would move into the region in the morning and fade away shortly thereafter.
“We’re going to get some redevelopment this afternoon and evening,” he said. “And that is where our primary focus is.”
The Weather Service also warned that storms passing over the region would produce heavy rain that may create some localized areas of flash flooding. Urban areas, roads, small streams and low-lying areas were most vulnerable, meteorologists said.
At least 15 tornadoes were reported to have struck parts of the Plains on Monday night. One tornado that was up to 2 miles wide ripped through Barnsdall, Oklahoma, a city about 40 miles northwest of Tulsa, killing one person, an Osage County official said.
In the predawn hours, it was difficult to assess the damage caused by the tornado, but one Osage County official said it had leveled about one-third of the small city, which has a population of about 1,000, and caused multiple injuries. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported that up to 40 homes in the town had been damaged.
The tornado also lifted the roof off a nursing home in Barnsdall, though all residents were accounted for with no injuries or deaths, officials said.
Rescuers were going through debris Tuesday with a fine-toothed comb, said Mayor Johnny Kelley. One person was reported missing, he said.
“We are going through the debris very thoroughly,” Kelley said at a news conference Tuesday.
Considering the widespread destruction, it was “shocking” there were so few casualties, he said: “The devastation is pretty substantial.”
The tornado also caused power outages in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. But by early Tuesday, power had been restored to all but about 10,000 customers in Oklahoma, according PowerOutage.us, which aggregates utilities information across the U.S.
In Bartlesville, Oklahoma, about 45 miles north of Tulsa, city officials said that emergency responders had rescued a number of trapped people at a Hampton Inn and were recovering downed power lines early Tuesday. They said minor injuries had been reported.
Rescue operations were also ongoing at the Osage Nation Reservation, where officials warned residents to stay clear of the roadways and damaged areas.