Deaths and damage reported as severe weather in the Midwest spawns
tornadoes and flash flooding
[August 13, 2026]
By DAVE COLLINS and JULIE CARR SMYTH
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — First responders rescued more people from
floodwaters Wednesday as utility crews cleared trees and wires downed by
severe storms in the Midwest that unleashed tornadoes, heavy rains and
flash flooding, leaving hundreds of thousands of customers without
electricity.
A 4-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on a home in Geneva,
Indiana, during Tuesday's storms, the Jennings County Sheriff's Office
said. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said a resident of Roseville died during
a health emergency when first responders, faced with flooded roads,
couldn’t reach them. Officials in Portage, Indiana, were investigating
whether the severe weather played a role in a reported house explosion
that killed a person.
Lightning struck a prison complex southwest of Cleveland on Tuesday,
injuring 16 incarcerated people who were hospitalized, according to the
Ohio Department of Corrections. DeWine said four remained hospitalized
as of Wednesday, including one with severe injuries.
Storm damage was reported from the Chicago area all the way to western
Pennsylvania. Three tornadoes in counties south of Chicago were
confirmed by the National Weather Service.
Flood warnings on Wednesday stretched from northern Illinois to eastern
Indiana, and there were flash flood watches from Indiana to parts of
Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, the weather
service said.
“Severe thunderstorm and heavy rainfall threats continue across the
Plains, Midwest, Ohio Valley, and central Appalachians the next couple
of days,” it said.
People had to be rescued from rising floodwaters
Authorities in Ohio and western Pennsylvania reported numerous water
rescues. DeWine sent 40 Ohio Army National Guard members to help in two
counties east of Columbus and he said dozens of local departments also
responded to help, including from West Virginia.
Floodwaters barged into Kaitlyn Rodgers’ home in Crooksville, Ohio,
early Tuesday morning, reaching knee deep as it stranded her and her
husband and four children. With the currents too strong to make it out
themselves, they were rescued by firefighters in a boat in the predawn
darkness.
“Water just started pouring into the house,” she said. “Because of my
house being very old, when the water was coming up I was very worried
about the electric outlets that were on the floor, because there was
water literally coming out of them, so I was afraid that my children
were going to get shocked.”
In Athens County, Ohio, nearly 300 people called 911 for help on
Tuesday, including 42 involving vehicles stuck in floods, with more
calls Wednesday as high waters flowed toward the Ohio River, said the
emergency management director, Teresa Fouts-Imler.
DeWine surveyed the hardest hit areas by helicopter on Wednesday and
called the extent of the flooding “stunning.”
“These communities have been hit exceedingly hard in a historic way,”
DeWine said during an afternoon news conference from Perry County.
“They’ve been hit before with water challenges, but this is certainly
the worst.”
[to top of second column]
|
A car is destroyed and homes damaged by part of an oak tree downed
by severe storms Tuesday, is seen in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug.
12, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The storms pummeled a wide swath of the Midwest
More than 650,000 customers were without power Wednesday afternoon
in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, according to
poweroutage.us.
Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power was still surveying the
damage but had already identified more than 100 broken poles, some
650 downed wire spans and another 85 entangled with trees. About
76,000 of its customers remained without power, even after crews had
restored electricity for 135,000, it said Wednesday.
To give Ohio's capital city time to grapple with power outages and
cleanup, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther declared an emergency
Wednesday.
Heavy rains and high winds damaged homes and inundated
neighborhoods
Photos posted on social media from the Chicago area and across the
state line in Indiana showed flooded roads, trees tangled in power
lines and homes with gashes in their roofs.
“No power. It was very scary. We were down in the basement,” said
Javid Jenkins of Homewood, a Chicago suburb. “We’re built for snow.
We’re built for cold. We’re not built for this.”
Jenkins, 54, was driving around for gas to fire up a generator to
preserve food in his refrigerator.
Forecasters said a wind gust of 99 mph (159 kph) was recorded in
Gary, Indiana. Elsewhere there were numerous reports of gusts of 80
mph (128 kph) or more at personal weather stations.
Preliminary information indicated that the intense system that swept
from Iowa into Indiana over several hours qualified as a derecho,
the weather service's Storm Prediction Center said Tuesday evening.
Derechos are prolonged straight-line windstorms that unleash heavy
rainfall and travel far. The damage they cause is sometimes
comparable to the destructive forces of tornadoes or hurricanes.
“Total devastation. No roof,” said Kerry Hourigan, standing outside
her home of 25 years in Tinley Park, another Chicago suburb. “Stupid
thing, but my focus was I just bought a new barbecue grill, and I
have no idea where that is. It’s disappeared.”
Dayton, Ohio, set a daily rainfall record with 2.07 inches (5.25
cm), shattering a mark set in 1915, the weather service said.
___
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press
writers Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta and John Raby in Charleston,
West Virginia, contributed.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
