AT LEAST three people have died and over a dozen were struck by lightning as powerful storms struck the Midwest.

Severe storms hit the Midwest on Tuesday, with officials ordering states of emergency as flash flood warnings were in effect for 16 million people.

A tree fell on top of a car outside a home in Cincinnati, Ohio after severe storms on Tuesday

A lightning strike captured in Chicago on Tuesday

Videos from across the region showed downed trees, aggressive flooding and high speed winds powerful enough to flip over vehicles and train cars as storms ripped through several states.

Two people died in Indiana during the storms, including one in Portage who died following a house explosion and fire around 12:20pm.

The city of Portage, located roughly 30 miles southeast of Chicago, saw extensive damage from the weather, with several trees blocking roads, which delayed firefighters responding to the house fire.

Police Captain Rob Maynard, a resident of Portage for five decades, said the storms were “probably the most severe weather event that any of us here can remember.”

A declaration of emergency was signed by Portage Mayor Austin Bonta on Tuesday.

A four-year-old boy was killed after a tree fell on his bedroom around 3:30pm on Tuesday in Indiana’s Jennings County, south of Indianapolis.

Officials believe the child was either injured or trapped before they arrived at the home in Geneva Township.

“The storm that came through we didn’t get a lot of the rain and the thunder and lightning. We got a lot of the wind, so it wasn’t really raining when this occurred,” Cody Low, the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy, told CBS affiliate WLKY.

“The tragedy that happened today didn’t come with the storm. It just came with the wind that came from those storms. That was it.”

Three other people were inside the home but made it out unscathed.

Another person died in Roseville, Ohio due to the flooding that came with the storm.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said emergency crews were unable to reach the man during an emergency.

Flooding seen in the Crooksville, Ohio area on Tuesday

Trees Downed trees seen blocking access to a home and part of a main road in Newtown Village in Cincinnati on Wednesday

Vina Renick, the man’s landlord told CBS affiliate WBNS that his family was able to evacuate him from his unit, but he suffered a medical emergency and later died.

“It’s heartbreaking because I knew him… and he was a very nice person,” she said. “It’s just so sad. I feel for his family.”

The man’s identity was not immediately released, but he worked maintenance at the Village Green Apartments, according to Renick.

Flooding forced residents at the apartment complex to evacuate as water quickly rushed in.

A state of emergency had been declared by DeWine in Muskingum and Perry counties after the storms caused severe flooding.

Storms continued in the Midwest into Wednesday, leaving 16 million people under flash flood warnings, according to NBC News.

Sixteen people at a prison in Grafton, Ohio, were transported to local hospitals after lightning struck while inmates were coming back from an evening meal.

One person had to be transported via medical helicopter.

Storms were also reported in Illinois, with two confirmed tornadoes near Chicago, one in eastern Will County and another in southern Cook County.

Over 800,000 people in the Midwest were without power on Wednesday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 664,000 electricity customers across Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia and Kentucky were still without power.

A majority of the outages were reported in Ohio and Indiana.

Andrew Ginther, the mayor of Columbus, Ohio, told residents that power could be out for days because of the storms.

“I want to encourage everybody to plan on a very different next couple of days and rest of the week,” he said.

“Things are not going to be fully restored and back to normal later today or tomorrow, the day after that.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16832608/storms-midwest-indiana-ohio-power-outage-lightning-strikes/