(NEW YORK) — At least two people are dead and multiple others suffered injuries in Indiana due to severe weather overnight that is expected to continue into Wednesday, according to the Lake Township Fire Department.
More than 65 million people are in the path of more severe weather sweeping across parts of the U.S. Wednesday, from Houston to Philadelphia.
The system was forecast to spawn strong tornadoes, destructive winds and hail the size of baseballs.
At least 10 tornadoes were reported from Texas to Indiana. The National Weather Service issued at least 45 tornado warnings across seven states.
The most damage was potentially in Kankakee County, Illinois, and Starke County, Indiana. Hail larger than grapefruit in size fell in Illinois — up to 5.2 inches in diameter.
There were reports of houses that collapsed in Indiana and people stuck in homes but as of Wednesday morning there are no reports of missing people, according to the fire department.
Thunderstorm winds of 60 to 80 mph were recorded from Texas to Indiana.
Wednesday morning, thunderstorms continued to surge east, now forming a line more than 1,600 miles long across America from Canada to Mexico and from New York to Texas.
A level 2 out of 5 slight risk threat is in place Wednesday for more than 65 million Americans from Houston to Philadelphia and includes other cities such as Pittsburgh; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Shreveport, Louisiana; and New Orleans.
The main risks are for tornadoes, damaging wind and large hail.
Flash flooding is possible especially from East Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, and southern Arkansas, where training, or consecutive, thunderstorms could dump multiple inches of rain over localized areas within hours.
Storms will reach Cleveland around 9 am and Pittsburgh around 11 am. Memphis will see storms in the morning and Nashville in the afternoon.
There were numerous reports of damage in Kankakee County, Illinois, where a large and extremely dangerous tornado was on the ground earlier Tuesday evening.
The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office said “extensive damage” was reported in Aroma Park. There were no immediate reports of injuries, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
A tornado watch was issued for North Central Illinois, along with small portions of Missouri, Iowa and Indiana until 11 p.m. local time.
The severe weather is expected to move offshore on Thursday morning, followed by a cold front that is expected to cause temperatures to quickly drop.
There’s a chance that lingering moisture behind the severe weather system may turn to snow for some areas, including Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday.
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