US Midwesterners hit by tornadoes, Fresh Storm Damage
Pastor Dale Morgan
US Midwesterners hit by tornadoes, Fresh Storm Damage*
Sunday August 26, 2007 8:46 PM
By JOHN McCARTHY
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Beleaguered residents of the flood-ravaged Midwest
found fresh damage Sunday from a batch of tornado-bearing thunderstorms
that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers.
Tornado warnings were issued Saturday afternoon for parts of central and
southeast Ohio. Downed trees and power lines were reported in the
southern part of the state, said National Weather Service meteorologist
Andy Hatzos.
Flooding this past week spread across an 80-mile swath through the
northwest and north central parts of the state. Gov. Ted Strickland was
to tour more of the damaged areas Sunday.
``What I've tried to do and what we've all tried to do is let these
folks know ... that we are working to get assistance to them as rapidly
as possible,'' Strickland said Saturday.
Powerful storms rolling through the Upper Midwest during most of the
past week caused disastrous floods from southeastern Minnesota to Ohio
that were blamed for at least 18 deaths.
In southern Michigan, about 42,000 customers still lacked power Sunday,
utilities said. The weather service confirmed tornadoes touched down
Friday in at least six areas of the state. One of the twisters cut a
path a quarter-mile wide, snapping and uprooting hundreds of trees, the
weather service said.
Five people were reported injured in Michigan's Eaton County. A dozen
homes were destroyed and seven were heavily damaged, Sheriff Mike Raines
said.
Damage in Fenton, Mich., was extensive, Mayor Sue Osborn said Saturday.
``I have seen houses that have trees go right through them,'' she said.
Only residents were being allowed into the city, she said.
Matt McClanahan's home in Michigan's Cohoctah Township was among at
least 17 destroyed by a twister.
``I've seen devastation and I've helped clean up, but I've never seen it
be me,'' he said. ``I bought a bottle of Jim Beam and it's in the house.
I could really use a sip of that right now.''
Power had been restored to nearly 600,000 customers in northern Illinois
since Thursday's storm, but it could take days to restore power to tens
of thousands more, officials said.
The storms in Illinois were responsible for at least one death, a man
struck by a wind-toppled tree, officials said.
Flooding in Wisconsin destroyed 44 homes and damaged more than 1,400,
most of them in the southwestern part of the state. Officials in Vernon
County lifted evacuation orders Saturday evening, allowing the return of
140 residents displaced after torrential rainfall strained a number of
nearby dams.
About 1,500 homes were damaged around Minnesota. Federal Emergency
Management Agency Administrator R. David said FEMA recovery centers
should be running early this week in the three counties where President
Bush declared disasters.
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Associated Press writers Dan Strumpf in Chicago; John Seewer in Ottawa,
Ohio; Joshua Freed in Rushford, Minn.; Mike Wilson in Des Moines, Iowa;
Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; Jim Irwin in Detroit; and Jim Salter in
St. Louis contributed to this report.