Millions of people across the US were bracing for extreme weather on Wednesday as a powerful system of thunderstorms swept across several states, bringing intense winds, rain, and other dangerous weather conditions.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 275,000 residents in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Kentucky were without power due to severe storms, according to poweroutage.us.
The majority of power outages are in West Virginia, where Jim Justice declared a state of emergency in several counties due to dangerous weather. Severe storms in the state caused “flooding, downed trees, power outages, and road blockages”, the governor said in his emergency declaration.
At least 13 homes in Fayette county, West Virginia, located in the state’s central area, were damaged. Several non life-threatening injuries were also reported, per CNN.
Several tornadoes were spotted across the midwest and in southern states on Tuesday evening, the National Weather Service reported. Tornadoes were spotted in Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia, with at least one death reported was in Oklahoma, the New York Times reported.
Millions of residents in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida are still under a tornado watch. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued the warning, which ends at 1pm ET, and includes major cities such as Tallahassee, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia.
“Continuing to watch organized storms moving across parts of [south-west Georgia] GA & Southern [Florida] Big Bend this morning. Damaging winds, tornadoes, isolated hail, and frequent lightning are the main concerns,” said the National Weather Service Tallahassee office in a post to X.
Several midwestern states also dealt with extensive damage caused by severe thunderstorms.
Residents in Vanderburgh, south-west Indiana, reported multiple instances of downed power lines and damage to their homes, Fox Weather reported.
Several vehicles in southern Indiana were also flipped over amid high winds , a spokesperson for the Indiana state police in the city of Sellersburg told CNN.
Several counties in Kentucky also remain under a flood advisory warning after heavy rainfall in the area. The NWS warned affected residents to avoid flooded roads and report damage to local emergency responders.
Andy Beshear, Kentucky’s governor, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after severe storms caused “heavy rain, hail, lightning, possible tornadoes and intense damaging winds” throughout the state.
Beshear added that there have been reports of damaged buildings throughout Kentucky, but no reported fatalities.
Meanwhile, a major winter storm is expected to hit several states in the midwest and the New England area. Nearly 12 million residents are under winter weather alerts, as intense hail and violent winds remain a possibility, CNN reported.
Parts of Wisconsin and northern areas of Michigan are already under a blizzard warning, according to the National Weather Service.
