LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Another wave of severe storms pummeled a wide swath of the United States and Canada, leading to flash floods and water rescues Wednesday in the Ozark Mountains, dropping a tornado that ravaged a community in upstate New York and stranding drivers in high water around Toronto.
The relentless series of storms has caused deaths or damage from the Plains to New England this week. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost power and air conditioning during days of sweltering heat.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Another wave of severe storms pummeled a wide swath of the United States and Canada, leading to flash floods and water rescues Wednesday in the Ozark Mountains, dropping a tornado that ravaged a community in upstate New York and stranding drivers in high water around Toronto.
A home near Cane Creek sits off its foundation after severe flooding in Flippin, Ark., on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (Staci Vandagriff/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
Ashley Joiner, 17, uses a squeegee broom to push water out of the fellowship hall at the Christian Church in Flippin, Ark., after it flooded on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (Staci Vandagriff/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
In this photo, provided by the Office of the New York Governor, Gov. Kathy Hochul surveys tornado damage in Rome, N.Y., Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Cities across upstate New York declared states of emergency after a storm swept through Tuesday with high winds and spectacular lightning. A confirmed tornado in the city of Rome tipped over vehicles and left streets clogged with tree debris, power poles and electrical transformers. (Office of the New York Governor/Mike Groll via AP)
In this image taken from KSPR video, flood waters from heavy rains flows under a bridge in Yellville, Ark., Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (KSPR via AQP)
This photo, provided by CAP Media, shows the B-52 that is on display outside of the Griffiss Business Park that was blown off its moorings, foreground, by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (Courtesy CAP Media via AP)
This photo, provided by CAP Media, shows the B-52 that is on display outside of the Griffiss Business Park that was blown off its moorings, lower left, by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (Courtesy CAP Media via AP)
The B-52 that is on display outside of the Griffiss Business Park was blown off its moorings by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Trees line the ground from a tornado, in Rome, NY, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Alexandra Figueroa, 33, is cooling off in the summer heat with her son Rubannyel Soto, 3, in Philadelphia, Pa., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Crews cleans up fallen trees at Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, after a powerful storm on Tuesday evening. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Amanda Hodgon of Keene, N.H., looks at her home on Glen Road on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, where a tree fell into a room where her and her children were in. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
People survey the collapsed roof and missing spire of the Rome First Presbyterian Church, and downed trees from a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Pieces of the copper roofing from the First Presbyterian Church are wrapped around utility poles almost a quarter mile away from the church that was struck by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
A car is crushed by the fallen building that hosted the Gansevoort mural that was struck by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Cars are partially submerged in flood waters in the Don Valley following heavy rain in Toronto, on Tuesday, July 16 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)
A person walks through the Union Station during a flood following heavy rain in Toronto, on Tuesday, July 16 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ezra Solomon, 8, helps clear the road of debris near the intersection of West Huron and North Leavitt Street in West Town, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, after severe storms passed through the Chicago area the night before. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Water and mud coat the floor of Jami Lane's home in Nashville, Ill., after a nearby creek flooded on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Lane said the floodwaters reached three feet deep on the main floor of the home, and had never previously entered the house in her roughly 20 years of living there. (Ben Gray/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Fallen trees cover a vehicle following after a storm that hit Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Jon Scott, a resident of Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., looks at the damage to his home after a power storm came through the area on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
City crews clean up debris on Lake Shore Blvd., after heavy rain caused flooding, in Toronto, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Cars remain stranded on the Don Valley Parkway as water recedes following heavy rain that caused flooding in Toronto on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Cars remain stranded on Bayview Avenue as water recedes following heavy rain that caused flooding in Toronto on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Jon Scott, a resident of Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., looks at the damage to his home after a power storm came through the area on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Fallen trees are scattered following after a storm that hit Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
A giant tree blocks the road on Maple Avenue near the Keene, N.H., Middle School after a powerful storm on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Fallen trees are scattered following after a storm that hit Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H.,on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Cars are partially submerged in floodwaters in the Don Valley following heavy rain in Toronto, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)
As much as 11 inches (nearly 28 centimeters) of rain fell overnight into Wednesday on parts of the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri, the National Weather Service said.
Buses and ambulances evacuated 86 people from a nursing home in Yellville, Arkansas, where water rose to about 4 feet (1.2 meters) during flash flooding, Marion County Sheriff Gregg Alexander said. A section of a bridge washed out and a historic courthouse flooded.
Cities across upstate New York were cleaning up after a storm swept through Tuesday with high winds and spectacular lightning and flying debris that killed one person.
In the small city of Rome, New York, a confirmed tornado ripped off roofs, tipped over vehicles and turned several buildings into piles of rubble.
Steeples crumbled and roofs were torn apart at First Presbyterian Church and the St. Mary’s Church, both built in the 1800s. Copper sheets from the roof of First Presbyterian were found wrapped around utility poles a quarter mile away.
“These are beautiful old churches. It breaks my heart,” Rome resident Barb Mulvey said on Facebook.
The winds were fierce enough to move a multi-ton tourist attraction, a B-52 bomber displayed at Griffiss Business and Technology Park. A mural of a Revolutionary War figure on horseback — a Rome landmark — was destroyed, along with the building on which it was painted. All that remained was an image of a horse hoof.
Speaking outside St. Mary’s, Gov. Kathy Hochul said it was “miraculous” no one was killed in the city of 31,000. She toured the downtown Wednesday and said 22 buildings were damaged or destroyed. She described seeing trees “collapsed like toothpicks” and told of mobile homes tipped over with people inside. The governor marveled at narrow escapes, including two children in a medical waiting room who emerged unscathed, though the building was partially “obliterated.”
The National Weather Service said it is still surveying the damage in Rome, but has so far found damage consistent with an EF2 rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with estimated wind speeds of up to 135 miles per hour. The scale rates an EF2 as “significant.”
Bruce Gendron, regional vice president for Grand Healthcare, which operates two nursing homes in Rome, said the tornado cut a path between the two facilities, sparing them of the most severe damage but pelting the buildings with powerful winds and heavy rains that knocked out their power.
He said he was at one of the nursing homes when the storm hit, with winds becoming so strong that staffers were forced to move residents away from the windows in case trees came topping down into the building.
The nursing homes had backup generators that kicked on, keeping most systems intact before power was restored to the facilities Wednesday afternoon, he said.
“To our residents of Rome: Do not be discouraged. This community is resilient and we will build back,” Mayor Jeff Lanigan said.
Storm debris hit and killed an 82-year-old man who was outdoors about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away in Canastota, village administrator Jeremy Ryan said. Hochul said three homes collapsed and 30 structures were also damaged in the community.
A thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Flippin, Arkansas, people went door to door to get as many as 40 residents to flee dangerous conditions before floodwaters began to recede. At least 30 residents were evacuated from an apartment complex in Greenbrier, 34 miles (55 kilometers) north of Little Rock, state emergency managers said.
“We’re not griping, because we absolutely needed the rain, but it will take a little while for us to drain out and clean the roadways back up,” the sheriff said.
Bill Scruggs and his crew from Wild Bill’s Outfitter, based south of Yellville, scrambled to save their canoes and kayaks from a sandbar in the Buffalo National River as waters quickly rose before dawn Wednesday.
Nearly 5 inches of rain fell overnight on the tourist hub of Branson, Missouri. Taney County Sheriff Brad Daniels said several campgrounds were evacuated and people had to be rescued from a flooded mobile home park in nearby Hollister.
Trees fell on houses and cars Tuesday in Keene, New Hampshire, forcing some residents to evacuate. Around Toronto, flooding temporarily closed several major roads and left drivers stranded. Authorities said they rescued at least 14 people from flooding on the highway.
More than 150,000 homes and businesses lacked power Wednesday afternoon in northeastern U.S. states, according to PowerOutage.us. The East Coast from Maine to the Carolinas was warned of weather that could feel hotter than 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius) in some places.
A storm helped bring under control a forest fire burning at a military bombing range in New Jersey as it dropped half an inch of rain, the state forest fire service said.
This week's severe weather struck the Chicago area especially hard. The weather service said it so far has confirmed at least 18 tornadoes in northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana: six on Sunday and 12 during a frightening stretch Monday night.
The larger bunch emerged from a derecho, long-lasting windstorms that began in Iowa and rolled east for hours, senior meteorologist Brett Borchardt explained.
“It's not unprecedented but it's very unusual. When we have a line of storms like that they’re prolific tornado producers,” he said.
Across the U.S., the storms have led to at least five deaths, including the one in New York. Flooding killed an 88-year-old couple who were in their car near Elsah, Illinois, on Tuesday and a 76-year-old passenger in a pickup in Rockford, Illinois, on Sunday. A fallen tree killed a 44-year-old woman in Cedar Lake, Indiana, on Monday.
White reported from Detroit. Associated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York City, Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, and Nick Perry in Boston contributed to this report.
Laurie Indresano, of Framingham, Mass., hand only top, and Rhianna Benson, of Newton, Mass., hand only right, spray Lucy, a 13-year-old Hanoverian horse, to cool her down at Stargazer Hill Farm, in Plainville, Mass., Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Temperatures rose above 90 degrees in many areas in the state Wednesday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A home near Cane Creek sits off its foundation after severe flooding in Flippin, Ark., on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (Staci Vandagriff/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
Ashley Joiner, 17, uses a squeegee broom to push water out of the fellowship hall at the Christian Church in Flippin, Ark., after it flooded on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (Staci Vandagriff/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
In this photo, provided by the Office of the New York Governor, Gov. Kathy Hochul surveys tornado damage in Rome, N.Y., Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Cities across upstate New York declared states of emergency after a storm swept through Tuesday with high winds and spectacular lightning. A confirmed tornado in the city of Rome tipped over vehicles and left streets clogged with tree debris, power poles and electrical transformers. (Office of the New York Governor/Mike Groll via AP)
In this image taken from KSPR video, flood waters from heavy rains flows under a bridge in Yellville, Ark., Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (KSPR via AQP)
This photo, provided by CAP Media, shows the B-52 that is on display outside of the Griffiss Business Park that was blown off its moorings, foreground, by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (Courtesy CAP Media via AP)
This photo, provided by CAP Media, shows the B-52 that is on display outside of the Griffiss Business Park that was blown off its moorings, lower left, by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (Courtesy CAP Media via AP)
The B-52 that is on display outside of the Griffiss Business Park was blown off its moorings by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Trees line the ground from a tornado, in Rome, NY, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Alexandra Figueroa, 33, is cooling off in the summer heat with her son Rubannyel Soto, 3, in Philadelphia, Pa., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Crews cleans up fallen trees at Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, after a powerful storm on Tuesday evening. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Amanda Hodgon of Keene, N.H., looks at her home on Glen Road on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, where a tree fell into a room where her and her children were in. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
People survey the collapsed roof and missing spire of the Rome First Presbyterian Church, and downed trees from a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Pieces of the copper roofing from the First Presbyterian Church are wrapped around utility poles almost a quarter mile away from the church that was struck by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
A car is crushed by the fallen building that hosted the Gansevoort mural that was struck by a tornado, in Rome, N.Y., Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. (John Clifford/The Daily Sentinel via AP)
Cars are partially submerged in flood waters in the Don Valley following heavy rain in Toronto, on Tuesday, July 16 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)
A person walks through the Union Station during a flood following heavy rain in Toronto, on Tuesday, July 16 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ezra Solomon, 8, helps clear the road of debris near the intersection of West Huron and North Leavitt Street in West Town, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, after severe storms passed through the Chicago area the night before. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Water and mud coat the floor of Jami Lane's home in Nashville, Ill., after a nearby creek flooded on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Lane said the floodwaters reached three feet deep on the main floor of the home, and had never previously entered the house in her roughly 20 years of living there. (Ben Gray/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
Fallen trees cover a vehicle following after a storm that hit Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Jon Scott, a resident of Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., looks at the damage to his home after a power storm came through the area on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
City crews clean up debris on Lake Shore Blvd., after heavy rain caused flooding, in Toronto, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Cars remain stranded on the Don Valley Parkway as water recedes following heavy rain that caused flooding in Toronto on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Cars remain stranded on Bayview Avenue as water recedes following heavy rain that caused flooding in Toronto on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Jon Scott, a resident of Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., looks at the damage to his home after a power storm came through the area on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Fallen trees are scattered following after a storm that hit Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
A giant tree blocks the road on Maple Avenue near the Keene, N.H., Middle School after a powerful storm on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Fallen trees are scattered following after a storm that hit Tanglewood Estates in Keene, N.H.,on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Kristopher Radder/The Brattleboro Reformer via AP)
Cars are partially submerged in floodwaters in the Don Valley following heavy rain in Toronto, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)
