At least one person was killed and several others injured after a series of powerful storms lashed the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions on Wednesday, destroying homes, downing trees and snapping utility poles after days of severe weather.
The National Weather Service said possible tornadoes were reported in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan Wednesday afternoon and into the evening.
Storms with wind speeds of 90 to 95 mph caused a tree to fall on a home in Livonia, Michigan, just west of Detroit, killing a toddler and hospitalizing his mother and her 2-month-old baby in the afternoon, the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today Network, reported.
Firefighters used high-pressure airbags to try to lift the tree for nearly an hour, but it crashed through the roof of the home and came down on a mother and her 2-year-old son as they were sleeping, authorities said. The child was pronounced dead at the scene and the mother was taken to Livonia Trinity Hospital in critical condition.
more:Tornadoes have been common this spring. Here’s why.
“The City of Livonia offers our heartfelt condolences to the family on the death of their 2-year-old son,” Livonia Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan said in a statement. “This is a tragic event for our community. We are heartbroken and offer our deepest condolences.”
At least five people were injured and trapped in homes by storms and possible tornadoes in the Gaithersburg, Maryland, area about 20 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., authorities said. At least one suspected tornado damaged several homes in nearby Baltimore.
On Thursday, the weather service sent four survey teams to nine counties in West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia to assess the damage and determine whether any tornadoes touched down. In Maryland alone, the weather service received more than a dozen reports of tornadoes.
Connor Belak, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Baltimore-Washington office, said damage was limited, with downed utility poles and trees being the main concern.
Belak said this storm was notable because it brought together conditions that led to tornado outbreaks across the Mid-Atlantic: A warm front over the Potomac River exacerbated wind shear and instability, which combined with eastward-moving storm debris to cause storm formation on the Maryland-Virginia-West Virginia border.
“This is not the kind of severe weather you typically see in the Mid-Atlantic region,” he said.
Another suspected tornado struck the small village of Fragesburg, Ohio, about 60 miles east of Columbus, filling roads with debris, causing minor injuries, and prompting local authorities to set up emergency shelters at a local elementary school and asking residents to stay home unless absolutely necessary, according to local police. The National Weather Service reported a tornado sighting in Knox County, Ohio, but the damage was minimal, the Columbus Dispatch, a part of the USA Today Network, reported.
Severe weather expected for Northeast, Florida and Southern Plains
Meanwhile, more severe weather is expected across the country, with heavy rain and flooding expected in the Mid-Atlantic, Florida, North Texas and Oklahoma.
Some of the largest cities in the path of the various storms include New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charlotte and Washington, DC, most of which were hit by the storms in the past day.
Coastal flood watches were issued for Baltimore and across New York as Weather Service meteorologists warned of rising waterways and flooding in low-lying areas.
Showers and thunderstorms across the East Coast on Thursday were moving along a cold front. Heavy rain is expected in the inland Northeast and southern New England on Thursday afternoon and evening, potentially causing travel disruption, according to the Met Office. Severe weather in the Northeast is expected to ease off by Friday.
“New Yorkers should expect heavy rain and thunderstorms late tonight through the Thursday morning commute,” the New York City Office of Emergency Management said on X. “Minor flooding is possible throughout the city, especially in low-lying areas and areas with poor drainage. Please plan ahead and expect transportation delays.”
“It just went by so quickly.”
Lisa Allen of Livonia, Michigan, said she had been checking the weather forecast all day when she suddenly heard the sound of a tornado approaching.
“It happened suddenly around 3:30 in the afternoon,” Allen told the Detroit Free Press. “So I said, ‘I better get to the basement,’ and I did. Before I got to the basement, it was over. It came so fast and was gone so fast,” she said.
A large tree branch fell in Allen’s front yard and a trampoline was overturned in her backyard. She recalled high winds hitting her home about 15 years ago, but said “today was a little stronger.”
Livonia Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Kern confirmed on the city’s website that Livonia officials had not received any warning of the approaching tornado from the National Weather Service, which called it a “rapidly developing storm” but did not have time to issue a warning to the city because it did not show up on radar screens.
The Livonia area was hit the hardest, with dozens of large trees downed as the storm weakened.
About 15,000 utility customers across Michigan were without power as of Thursday morning, according to USA TODAY’s outage tracker. The majority of the outages were reported in counties in the southeastern part of the state, with about 7,000 outages in Wayne County, which includes south Detroit.
– Jenna PrestiningiDetroit Free Press
Extreme heat hits California, Southwest
Severe thunderstorms are pounding the central and eastern US, while scorching heat is expected to return to much of the West Coast, from California’s Central Valley to southern Texas.
Afternoon highs are expected to reach above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across California, and above 110 degrees in some areas, according to the weather service, with extreme heat warnings in effect for much of the state and the agency urging people to avoid strenuous outdoor activities.
The threat is widespread across the West. Utah is expected to see dangerously hot temperatures of 104 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday afternoon, while parts of Nevada could reach 114 to 116 degrees Fahrenheit. In South Texas, which has been hit by unseasonably hot weather for weeks, temperatures are expected to reach triple digits by the afternoon, including in El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley.
The Meteorological Agency urged people to stay hydrated and always check their cars before leaving them, as temperatures inside can reach lethal levels within minutes.
National Weather Radar
Contributed by: Detroit Free Press
