Deaths, damage reported as severe weather spawns tornadoes, flash flooding in the Midwest

Deaths, damage reported as severe weather spawns tornadoes, flash flooding in the Midwest 0 seconds of 1 minute, 57 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Rubber ducks by the thousands splash into Chicago River for annual Special Olympics fundraiser 01:35 Subtitle Settings OffEnglish(US)_v Font Color White Font Opacity 100% Font Size 100% Font Family Arial Character Edge None Edge Color Black Background Color Black Background Opacity 50% Window Color Black Window Opacity 0% Reset WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25% 200%175%150%125%100%75%50% ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% 00:00 01:57 01:57 More Videos 01:35 Rubber ducks by the thousands splash into Chicago River for annual Special Olympics fundraiser 01:38 More than 90,000 rubber ducks splash into Chicago River for annual Ducky Derby fundraiser 00:58 How Hathaway found calm at 'The End of Oak Street' 00:57 Candlelight vigil in Islamabad for 10 climbers who lost their lives on Broad Peak 00:59 Colombia’s new president takes office in ceremony in Cali highlighting hard line on armed groups 01:55 Trump says advisers wanted him off Air Force One in Turkey due to threat 01:34 African Swine Fever threatens Tuscany's rare Cinta Senese breed 00:47 Ms. Rachel announces debut album 'I'm So Happy' Close 1 of 7 | Body camera footage shows how rescue teams found two women and 9-year-old boy who were stranded for three days when their river tubing trip went wrong. More Videos 0 seconds of 1 minute, 1 secondVolume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Trump told Ukraine it had no cards. Then Kyiv took the war to Russia 01:38 Subtitle Settings OffEnglish(US)_v Font Color White Font Opacity 100% Font Size 100% Font Family Arial Character Edge None Edge Color Black Background Color Black Background Opacity 50% Window Color Black Window Opacity 0% Reset WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25% 200%175%150%125%100%75%50% ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% Auto360p1080p720p540p360p270p180p 00:00 01:01 01:01 More Videos Close 2 of 7 | Severe weather cut power to over half a million people in the Chicago area and northwestern Indiana. Some like one resident in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park saw extensive damage to their homes. (AP Video: Laura Bargfeld) 3 of 7 | Kerry Hourigan speaks on the phone after reviewing damage a storm caused to her home in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld) 4 of 7 | Storm clouds move in over Paycor Stadium and practice fields during the Cincinnati Bengals’ NFL football practice in Cincinnati, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) 5 of 7 | In this image made from video, a roof is damaged after a strong storm in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld) 6 of 7 | A home is damaged after a storm in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld) 7 of 7 | In this image made from video, damage caused by a strong storm is seen a home in Tinley Park, Ill., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld) By LAURA BARGFELD and ED WHITE Updated 1:53 PM MESZ, August 12, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit CHICAGO (AP) — First responders and utility crews worked overnight into Wednesday clearing roads from trees and wires that were downed during severe storms in the Midwest that unleashed tornadoes, heavy rains and flash flooding while knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers. 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. Their conditions weren’t immediately known. The storms inflicted a wide swath of damage from the Chicago area to western Pennsylvania, and the National Weather Service said threats of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall will continue over the next few days in the Midwest, Ohio Valley and central Appalachians. More than 700,000 customers were without power Wednesday morning in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, according to poweroutage.us. Severe weather knocks out power in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as ‘ring of fire’ strikes Midwest 2 MIN READ El mal tiempo en el centro-norte de EEUU deja muertes y daños por tornados e inundaciones 2 MIN READ Azura Stevens scores 18 of her 20 points in the 1st half and the Sky beat the Storm 95-90 2 MIN READ The National Weather Service said it confirmed three tornadoes in counties south of Chicago. Water rescues were reported during heavy rains in several states including Ohio, where DeWine sent 40 Ohio Army National Guard members to help in two counties east of Columbus. Tornado warning sirens howled Tuesday as the skies darkened in the Chicago area. All flights were temporarily stopped at Chicago’s two major airports, and officials warned of delays as the backlog was cleared. 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, said he 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 wind events that unleash heavy rainfall and travel far distances. 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.” Meteorologist Scott Baker said the Midwest was on the outer edge of a “ring of fire,” bringing waves of excessive moisture, instability and storms. Dayton, Ohio, set a daily rainfall record with 2.07 inches (5.25 cm), shattering a mark set in 1915, the weather service said. Forecasters said multiple rounds of rain would cause flood hazards in the Ohio Valley through early Friday. White reported from Detroit. Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Jennifer Garske in Washington, Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed. LAURA BARGFELD Bargfeld is a video journalist for The Associated Press based in Chicago. mailto