Storms, high winds cause damage throughout Midwest
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A spring storm that produced at one least one small tornado made its way across Missouri on Wednesday, causing isolated power outages and pelting parts of the state with hail the size of softballs.
Weather spotters reported a funnel cloud at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday near Potosi in eastern Missouri, while an hour earlier the Bates County emergency manager reported an EF0 tornado in southwest Missouri that destroyed a 60-foot machine shop, the National Weather Service said.
Several eastern Missouri counties were under tornado warnings Wednesday afternoon but all had expired by early evening.
Officials in Washington and St. Francois counties have received reports of flooding, along with downed trees and power lines. Part of a roof was blown off the Lyon's Den building west of Potosi, but no one was inside, said Brad Barton, the 911 director for Washington County.
Hail as large as tennis balls also hammered the area and Missouri 21 was temporarily closed after a tree fell across it, Barton said.
"This is worse than we normally have for a spring storm," Barton said, adding that fire crews rescued one driver whose vehicle got stuck in high water. But he said the situation wasn't life-threatening.
Several people reported hail damage in Franklin County, including a mother and daughter who said their car was hit by baseball size hail on I-44 near Sullivan, CBS News affiliate KMOV reported. They said the hail forced them to pull to the side of the highway in Stanton, Mo. Other cars were damaged by hail in Sullivan.
Meanwhile a band of intense thunderstorms was moving into the western part of the state from southwest Kansas, bringing reports of high winds and ping pong ball-size hail.
Meanwhile in Indiana, severe thunderstorms have raked central and southern parts of the state, dumping large hail and heavy downpours of rain that caused localized flooding.
The National Weather Service estimated hail 1.75 inches in diameter fell in the Indianapolis southern suburb of Greenwood during a Wednesday afternoon round of storms. It measured 1-inch hail in Indianapolis.
Dubois County authorities closed a road because of high water, and the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency north of Indianapolis made sandbags available to local residents.
Earlier Wednesday, storms pelted central Indiana with hail.
The weather service says severe weather is possible across Indiana through Thursday, with the main threat being large damaging hail. Those storms will also carry the risk of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes.
In Southwest Ohio, the storms brought damaging hail and winds across the region, and at least one injury.
A barn was destroyed in Preble County due to high winds, according to CBS News affiliate WHIO. In Washington Township, emergency crews were working to evacuate residents from an apartment building after a large tree fell on it, but no one was hurt.
An injury did take place at the University of Dayton when a student was struck by lightning near a campus facility. He was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to a school administration statement.
Forecasters warned storms could take place Wednesday and Thursday and cautioned millions of residents in the middle of the country to be aware of worsening weather.
The Storm Prediction Center, in a midday update to its forecast Wednesday, upgraded to its second-highest advisory level - a moderate risk - while stressing that a significant tornado or two could form in a narrow stretch from northern Oklahoma to central Missouri.