One dead, severe damage after tornadoes, thunderstorms hit Midwest

Severe storms and tornadoes that tore through the Midwest on Thursday left one person dead, downed trees and plunged thousands into darkness with power outages.

The storms capped multiple days of outbreaks across several states, with tornadoes, storm damage and large hail reported in Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, according to AccuWeather. Overall in the last few days, some two dozen tornadoes have struck in the central part of the country and Midwest, the outlet said. On Thursday, tornadoes were reported in Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois, according to preliminary data from the Storm Prediction Center.

A man in Des Moines, Iowa, was killed Thursday when a tree fell on a homeless encampment during the storm that morning, reported the Des Moines Register.

Other Midwestern communities have not reported fatalities, but sustained serious damage. In Kenosha County, Wisconsin, a severe storm downed trees and power lines, with “significant damage” along the Highway 142 corridor, the local government said. The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down at about 6:13 p.m. near Sturtevant, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In Springfield, Illinois, an animal shelter was heavily damaged.

More than 300,000 homes and businesses were without power in Illinois and Indiana as of early Friday morning , according to USA Today’s outage tracker.

1 killed in Iowa storms

The man killed in Des Moines, Iowa, when storms knocked a tree into a homeless encampment was 54 years old, according to authorities. His identity was not released.

Des Moines police and fire crews responded to reports of a traumatic injury just before 8 a.m. on Thursday, and found the man in critical condition, police spokesperson Sgt. Paul Parizek said, according to the Register. The tree had broken apart and fallen during the severe storms.

Police said the man died at the scene despite life-saving measures.

Storms in Iowa brought flash flooding to Page County, downed trees in Coburg and widespread high winds in the southwest and central parts of the state that caused damage, including part of a building’s metal roof torn off in Malvern, the Register reported.

Multiple days of severe storms hit central U.S., Midwest

Nearly 700 severe weather incidents and almost two dozen tornadoes were reported in recent days across the central United States, AccuWeather reported.

On Tuesday, storms brought wind gusts of 90 mph and hail to South Dakota. Tens of thousands were left without power in the Dakotas and Minnesota, the outlet reported.

Several tornadoes were also reported Wednesday night .

In Springfield, Illinois, a severe storm tore the roof off and caused major damage to buildings at the Animal Protective League on Thursday, according to the Springfield State Journal-Register. No injuries were reported and hundreds of animals were safely relocated, the outlet reported.

The rocky weather was expected to shift eastward toward the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Thunderstorms and a potential for damaging winds and downpours were expected in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., AccuWeather forecasters said.

Pool chairs go flying into traffic in Chicago

Video of lounge chairs from a rooftop pool deck being lifted up by wind ⁠and flung into traffic on the street below has spread across social media. The incident happened in Lincoln Park in Chicago on June 10, CBS News Chicago reported.

The video shows multiple chairs crashing onto the street from a high-rise building, some hitting cars while other drivers tried to avoid the projectiles.

Also in Chicago during storms the same day, windows were shattered in two high-rise buildings, NBC 5 reported.