Violent Storms Kill At Least Five

Storm systems packing winds between 60 and 100 mph tore through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, killing at least four people and prompting officials to try to get Memphis declared a federal disaster area.

The storms blew through the city early Tuesday, killing a man and leaving up to 300,000 without electricity. Straight-line winds knocked over hundreds of trees and tore off roofs, badly damaging homes, businesses and endangering entertainment landmarks.

In northeast Ohio, where storms pounded the area for a second day, a man and a teenage boy were found dead Tuesday morning, trapped by rising water in an underground parking garage at a condominium in Hudson, about 20 miles southeast of Cleveland.

About 100 people were evacuated from the condos and taken to temporary shelter at a high school.

Three bridges serving 140 units of an Akron apartment complex were washed out, stranding about 200 residents. About 100 residents of the apartments had been relocated by Tuesday night, city spokesman Mark Williamson said. Workers were constructing a makeshift road to reach people who were stranded.

A tornado damaged about 100 homes in Youngstown on Monday, and a 10-year-old boy drowned in Warren after wading into a rain-swollen ditch.

Another set of storms was predicted to drench northern Ohio again on Wednesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kirk Lombardy.

A 52-year-old woman was killed in New York's Brooklyn borough during an abrupt afternoon rainstorm when a branch dislodged from a tree and fell on top of her, authorities said.

Storms that rushed through the metropolitan region brought hailstones and thunder, part of a torrent of violent weather expected to continue through Wednesday.

The storms knocked out power to thousands in the area, uprooted trees and damaged some houses.

Sal Cospito, 47, of Belmar, N.J., said the wind "ripped through the house" and tore off part of his roof. "It was pretty violent," he told the Asbury Park Press of Neptune.

More than 8,000 central Illinois residents remain without power after a violent wave of thunderstorms packing hurricane-force winds passed through the region early Monday.

In Tennessee, up to 70 percent of the customers served by Memphis Light, Gas & Water were without electricity late Tuesday, primarily because of utility lines knocked down by trees or limbs.

In Memphis, authorities opened emergency shelters late in the day and were seeking electrical generators to help power medical equipment. Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton and U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said they would try to get the city declared a federal disaster area.

"This is truly a state of emergency for the city and county," Herenton said. "This is a major event."

A 75-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on his residence. Trees were uprooted or torn to pieces across Shelby County, and gas natural gas leaks erupted from some tree damage.

A 2-month-old child, whose name was not immediately released, died in an apartment fire shortly after the storm hit.

Up to 70 percent of the 450,000 customers served by Memphis Light, Gas & Water were without electricity, primarily because of utility lines knocked down by trees or limbs.

"It will be at least a week before we have everyone's service restored," said Mark Heuberger, a utility company spokesman.

Power outages virtually shut down Memphis International Airport, and Northwest Airlines, which has a hub there, diverted flights to other cities. Northwest advised customers expecting connecting flights in Memphis to delay their travel plans through Sunday.

The Beale Street entertainment district was closed because a 500-foot crane being used to build a new sports arena for the NBA's Grizzlies was left leaning by the strong winds.

Afraid it might topple, authorities evacuated businesses near the construction site. The Gibson Guitar Factory also sustained heavy damage.

Older residential neighborhoods in the city's midtown area were covered with fallen trees, many of them huge oaks lifted up by the roots or split by the high winds.

Meteorologist Dan Valle of the National Weather Service said the storm hit while many people were driving to work, forcing them to maneuver around fallen trees and utility poles.

"It was a very long-lived, very strong storm that basically contained damaging straight-line winds," Valle said.