Severe storms in the US Midwest have cut power to nearly 540,000 homes and businesses, according to data from PowerOutage.us, as reported by infohub.kz.
Indiana was the hardest-hit state, with more than 267,000 outages, representing about 8% of its roughly 3.3 million customers.
AccuWeather forecasters said that rounds of severe thunderstorms will threaten the plains, Midwest and East into Thursday, with damaging wind gusts and repeated downpours that could trigger dangerous flash flooding.
First responders rescued many people from floodwaters on Wednesday, while utility crews cleared trees and wires downed by the storms. The region has been hit by tornadoes, heavy rains and flash flooding for several days.
In Jennings County, Indiana, a four-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on a home in Geneva during Tuesday's storms, according to the sheriff's office. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said a resident of Roseville died during a health emergency when first responders couldn't reach them due to flooded roads.
Officials in Portage, Indiana, are investigating whether severe weather played a role in a house explosion that killed one person.
Indiana's hardest-hit utility, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Nipsco), left 258,885 homes and businesses without power, about 55% of its roughly 468,000 customers in the state. Nipsco is a unit of Indiana energy firm NiSource.
The company said in a statement that it is assessing damage and will provide estimated restoration times when the task is complete, but warned that restoration could take days in some areas due to extensive damage. "There is widespread damage to electric infrastructure, including downed poles, power lines and trees," the statement said.
Duke Energy said it is pulling in 1,000 workers to restore power to more than 171,000 customers across greater Cincinnati in Ohio. Andy Cassidy, Duke Energy's storm director, said they are working alongside employees and contractors in Ohio and Kentucky to restore service as quickly as possible. In Ohio, about 46,200 homes and businesses are without power, about 6% of its roughly 768,281 customers.
Authorities in Ohio and western Pennsylvania have reported numerous water rescues. DeWine sent 40 Ohio Army National Guard members to help in two counties east of Columbus, and he said dozens of local departments, including from West Virginia, also responded to help.