Rescuers used a front loader to pluck a woman and three children from the roof of a sport utility vehicle that strayed onto a flooded road after melting snow and heavy rain swelled rivers during an unusual January warm streak. But they were unable to reach her two other young children. The children in Indiana were among five people killed nationwide Tuesday, the second day of severe weather fueled by unseasonable temperatures. Tornadoes also blew through several states Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday, as remnants of the storm system moved eastward, thunderstorms knocked out electricity to more than 70,000 homes and businesses in western New York, downing trees and power lines from Lake Erie to the Finger Lakes. Gusts of up to 75 mph were reported in Rochester, the National Weather Service said.
The same system produced wind gusts to 63 mph during the night in Ohio, where at least 50,000 customers were blacked out Wednesday morning.
Flood warnings remained in effect Wednesday in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, the weather service said.
A tornado that hit Appleton, Ark., on Tuesday rolled a doublewide mobile home off its foundation, killing a man and injuring his wife. The trailer appeared to have rolled for 50 yards before smashing against a stand of trees in the rural area about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock.
"The tornado hit and ... it looked like his house pretty much exploded," Pope County Sheriff Jay Winters said. "It was taken completely off the blocks and just tore to pieces. They were both in the wreckage."
Source : Breitbart / AP News
