Thunderstorms, large hail, destructive wind gusts and strong tornadoes threaten up to 73 million people across the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Valleys on Sunday.
By evening, Michigan, Missouri and Mississipi each had preliminary tornado reports as a storm system slowly marched east, producing a line of thunderstorms, rain, strong winds and hail from Ohio to Texas.
Parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee were subjected to tornado watches and warnings Sunday night. Many expired while others were issued as the low pressure front moved east-northeast, according to the National Weather Service.
The possibility of strong tornadoes and destructive wind gusts exceeding 65 mph are associated with the front as it pushes cold air into warm in a clash that roils the atmosphere and creates conditions ripe for tornadoes.
NBC affiliate WNDU of South Bend, Indiana, broadcast footage of apparent wind damage, including a flattened structure in Elkhart County, east of South Bend, and a large, uprooted tree in the Michiana region that includes southern Michigan.
In South Bend, Indiana, multiple vehicles and structures were damaged by high wind and downed trees and branches, police said. No injuries were reported.
“The damage is fairly widespread across our city,” South Bend Police Department spokesperson Ashley O’Chap said via text. “It was truly an all-hands-on-deck type of afternoon here.”
Underlying St. Joseph County had much of the same, along with downed power lines and “significant” power outages, said county police spokesperson Christine O’Connor.
More than 97,000 electricity customers in Indiana were in the dark Sunday night, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.us. In Kentucky, that figure was nearly 12,000; Ohio, more than 14,000; in Michigan more than 376,000; and more than 60,000 in Wisconsin.
This storm system has affected parts of the Midwest and South through the weekend, producing more than 150 preliminary damaging wind and hail reports across the Plains on Saturday, including a 3-inch hail report in Amber, Oklahoma.
In Miami, fans attending the Ultra Music Festival endured flooded streets and a pause in programming due to thunderstorms, but kept on partying, according to NBC Miami.
