1 Dead, More Than 1 Million Without Power in Midwest Storms

One person died in a suspected house explosion in Portage, Indiana, as severe storms tore across the Midwest on Tuesday, spawning at least two tornadoes in Illinois and knocking out power to more than 1 million customers, officials said.

The blast and fire in Portage, a city about 30 miles southeast of Chicago, was reported around 12:20 p.m., police said. Firefighters were delayed by widespread damage and debris. Weather is suspected of playing a role, but the cause remains under investigation.

Police Capt. Rob Maynard, who said he has lived in Portage for 50 years, called the storms "probably the most severe weather event that any of us here can remember."

"When this call came in, everything was breaking free," Fire Chief Chris Crail said at a news conference, adding that finding a path to the scene was difficult with so many trees and power lines down. Police Chief Mike Candiano said several officers parked a mile from the home and ran toward it. "It seemed that every road had a tree down," he said.

Portage Mayor Austin Bonta signed a declaration of emergency and said roads were impassable. Video from the area showed a trailer on a stationary train pushed over by the wind as debris described as roofing material blew around it.

The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes near Chicago — one in southern Cook County and one in eastern Will County — both with damage consistent with EF-1 strength. The office serving Chicago had warned of possible 100 mph winds and urged residents of Porter County, Indiana, where Portage is located, to seek shelter immediately.

More than 1 million electricity customers in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee were without power Tuesday evening, according to poweroutage.us, with most of the outages in Ohio and Indiana.

Utility AEP said the Columbus, Ohio, area recorded wind gusts above 80 mph and trees falling on power lines, and that more than 2,000 workers, including crews from other states, were working to restore service.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said response teams saw "disaster-like conditions" in the city and that power could be out for days. "Things are not going to be fully restored and back to normal later today, or tomorrow, the day after that," he said.

In Ohio, Gov. DeWine declared an emergency in Perry and Muskingum counties, east and southeast of Columbus, because of flooding. His office said there had been water rescues and evacuations.