Three Deaths Follow Violent Storms and Flash Floods in Midwest and Southern States

Three deaths, including two children in Arkansas and Michigan, as well as a woman in Ohio, were attributed to violent storms that brought heavy rains, damaging winds, and flash floods to parts of the US Southern region and the Midwest.

Hundreds of thousands of businesses and homes in Michigan and Indiana lost electrical service as a result of the storms on Monday, and dozens of schools in Michigan alone had to cancel classes on Tuesday due to power outages.

Three Deaths

A 14-year-old girl in Monroe, Michigan, was electrocuted on Monday night. It happened in the backyard of her residence after touching an electrical line that a storm had knocked down, the public safety department reported on Facebook.

The girl, who was with a friend, reached for what she thought was a stick, but it was a power line, according to the department.

In addition, two boys were taken to the hospital in the Warren neighborhood of Detroit after one of them got hold of a downed power line on Tuesday morning, including an 8-year-old who had been in critical condition.

Authorities in Arkansas reported that an 11-year-old boy had died after being washed into a storm drain on Monday during a period of intense rainfall.

According to Bentonville police, a woman, 47, who attempted to assist the child was also rescued from the drain and transported to a hospital for treatment. On Monday, the region experienced heavy rainfall and localized flash flooding due to slow-moving thunderstorms.

Damaging Winds, Flash Floods, Heavy Rains

According to Brad McGavock, a meteorologist from a Tulsa, Oklahoma weather service, when those heavy rains did occur, they did so quickly and in large amounts. Parts of Arkansas are covered by the aforementioned weather service. The management of water through those storm drains has the potential to force a significant amount of water through those culverts.

A woman in Ohio, whose identity details were not released, was killed Monday night in Toledo when a tree fell on her as a strong storm passed through the area, according to the city's fire department.

Numerous states, including Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, experienced the storms. The Battle Creek Executive Airport in Huntington, Indiana, and Michigan both experienced wind gusts of up to 60 mph during which tree branches and power lines fell, according to the weather service.

Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi announced on Monday night that he was issuing a state of emergency after heavy rains exacerbated issues at one of Jackson's water-treatment facilities and led to low water pressure in much of the state's capital. Days, after storms dumped a lot of rain, flooding along the Pearl River, caused Jackson to be evacuated on Monday.

The flooding in Mississippi was not as bad as the flooding that wreaked havoc and killed people in Kentucky last month. At least 39 people died as a result of those floods, and thousands of families lost everything they owned. Residents are debating whether to rebuild where they currently call home or to relocate nearly a month later, CBS News reports.