At a Glance
- A flash flood emergency led to evacuations in northern Arkansas Wednesday morning.
- A dam failure deemed "imminent" in southern Illinois is now under control.
- Serious structural damage was reported after storms hit Rome, New York.
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Evacuations and water rescues were underway Wednesday morning in northern Arkansas after more than a foot of rain fell in the area, the latest in a series of storms and severe weather to pummel parts of the U.S.
Flood water was reportedly entering homes and businesses. At least one nursing home was also evacuated, according to local news reports.
A flash flood emergency was declared for the town of Yellville and surrounding areas. Yellville is in the Ozark Mountains about 20 miles southwest of Mountain Home and is the county seat of Marion County
“Numerous bridges across the area are washed out with water rescues that are taking place,” the National Weather Service said. “Evacuations are taking place as significant rising water is inside of homes and businesses.”
There was also a report of a swift water rescue involving a recreational vehicle in nearby Baxter County.
Severe weather across parts of the U.S. Monday and Tuesday left passengers stranded on the tarmac at one of the nation's busiest airports, knocked down trees and power lines, flooded homes with water and left at least one person dead.
Earlier in the week, many of the impacts came from a long-lived thunderstorm complex called a derecho that raced across the Midwest Monday night, producing widespread damaging winds from Iowa to Illinois, including Chicago, Indiana and southwest Michigan.
In Indiana, a 44-year-old woman was reportedly killed when a tree fell on her Cedar Lake home, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
(MORE: Falling Trees: An Underreported, Deadly Danger)
Another person was injured by a falling tree and taken to a hospital, according to the Chicago Fire Department. The CFD responded to several calls of downed power lines, fallen trees and collapsed porches.
The derecho was the second in 48 hours and the latest in a series of storms to sweep through parts of the Midwest.
But it didn't end there. On Tuesday, heavy rain caused a reported dam failure that filled homes with waist-high water in the southern Illinois community of Nashville and a tornado-warned storm in Rome, New York, damaged a shopping center and church and rotated a B-52 bomber on display.
Rome's mayor, Jeffrey Lanigan, declared a state of emergency and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did the same, pledging state resources to aid with the recovery.
One person was reportedly killed by the storms in Canastota, located southwest of Rome, according to WSYR-TV. No further details were provided by the website.
Illinois Dam Failure Risk Has Ended, Officials Say
Authorities warned residents in a portion of Nashville, Illinois, that a local dam was at risk of "imminent failure" Tuesday morning. Alongside a shaded map, the Washington County Emergency Management Agency posted an update stating, "If you are in the grey box, you need [to] evacuate now!"
Water overtopped the dam, forcing the evacuation of about 200 homes, Alex Haglund, a spokesperson for the Washington County Emergency Management Agency, said in an update around 3 p.m. EDT.
But by Tuesday night, the EMA said in an update that the risk of a dam failure had ended and residents were safe to return to their homes. It wasn't clear if there was also a breach in the dam.
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Haglund said one person required rescue from their home but no one was injured. A shelter was open for evacuees.
Nashville is about 50 miles southeast of St. Louis and has a total population of about 3,400 people.
Earlier in the day, officials said the area was "experiencing an emergency flood situation" and cautioned residents to stay home except in the case of evacuation orders.
National Weather Service (NWS) radar estimated 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in Nashville in a 24-hour period as of about 11:30 a.m. EDT.
About 11 miles of Interstate 64 in the area were closed due to flooding.
Tornado Damages Structures In Des Moines Area
According to the NWS, a tornado was responsible for damage to structures, trees and power lines in Polk County, Iowa, where Des Moines is located. A damage survey will be performed Tuesday to determine how strong the tornado was.
In the Windsor Heights area in western Des Moines, debris was tossed as the twister tore through nearby neighborhoods.
Trees were scattered in the aftermath of the storms, but no deaths were reported in the Des Moines area.
O'Hare Plane Passengers Ride Out Storms On Taxiway
While travelers inside Chicago's O'Hare International Airport were told to shelter in place during a tornado warning, dozens of planes sat on the taxiway with passengers inside.
Numerous passengers expressed their discontent on social media over being stuck inside planes while the NWS, which had also taken shelter, warned of a tornado threat to the city.
How Strong Were The Winds In The Midwest?
The derecho began in eastern Iowa late Monday afternoon. Wind gusts up to 97 mph were clocked in Dubuque County.
From there, the thunderstorm complex produced a 105-mph gust in northwest Illinois near Camp Grove, then pushed into Chicago late in the evening where a 75-mph gust was measured at O'Hare Airport.
The storms have downed numerous trees and knocked out power. More than 238,000 homes and businesses were without power in Illinois as of about 10:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, according to poweroutage.us. About 125,000 outages were being reported across Indiana.
A stretch of Interstate 55 in Will County, Illinois, remained closed due to downed power lines, the state's Department of Transportation reported.
MORE ON WEATHER.COM
-What Is A Derecho? The Science Behind This Widespread Damaging Thunderstorm Danger
-Simple Steps You Need To Be Prepared For Severe Weather
-Lives Washed Away In Deadly Vermont Flooding
Weather.com reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between. Editor/producers Dan Wright and Pat Maddox contributed to this report.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Weather.com reporter Tim Harris, editor Sean Breslin and meteorologist Chris Dolce contributed.)
