After a deadly storm in Houston over the weekend in which eight people died, 25 million Americans are bracing for more severe weather across the country.
A National Weather Service notice said that an outbreak of severe thunderstorms was predicted on Tuesday over large swaths of the midwest and western Great Lakes, with the greatest threat expected over Iowa and certain parts of nearby states.
“Severe thunderstorms will continue this morning across Iowa with a risk for mainly damaging winds,” the NWS said.
In several posts on X, the NWS’s office in Des Moines warned of severe thunderstorms with wind gusts up to 70mph as well as flash flooding. It urged residents to move immediately to high ground and avoid walking or driving through flood waters.
The service’s posts said: “Line of severe thunderstorms currently moving through the Des Moines metro. Wind speeds of 60-70mph & hail of up to 1 inch in diameter have been reported. Severe thunderstorm warning and multiple flash flood warnings in effect. Seek shelter until these pass!”
Furthermore, the NWS said that severe storms were expected to redevelop on Tuesday afternoon across eastern Nebraska and northern Missouri before moving rapidly north-east to the Great Lakes region.
It went on to warn, “Discrete storms are possible initially, evolving into an organized line of severe storms by evening. More isolated severe storms will be possible farther south into portions of eastern Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas and central Texas.”
All forms of severe weather, including tornadoes and severe wind gusts of about 75mph – as well as 2in hail – were possible Tuesday through Wednesday throughout the affected regions. Additionally, heavy rain may lead to scattered instances of flash flooding through Tuesday night across the upper midwest, the NWS warned.
From the Ozarks to south Texas, isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected to form from mid-afternoon into evening on Tuesday near the front and dry line, according to the NWS, which added that there was a possibility of large to very large hail up to 3in in diameter and locally severe gusts.
By Wednesday morning, the center of the system is expected to move towards southern Canada with the heavy rain threat expected to quickly decrease across the Great Lakes.
A trailing cold front is expected to become “nearly stationary across the southern Plains where the next phase of severe weather and excessive rainfall is forecast to emerge”, the NWS said.
The threats are then expected to expand on Wednesday night towards the mid-Mississippi valley, where the thunderstorms tend to become slow-moving.
The NWS’s latest warnings come after eight storm-related deaths occurred in Houston in recent days amid fast-moving thunderstorms that hit Texas for the second time in a month.
According to Houston’s mayor, John Witmire, at least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees. Another occurred when heavy winds toppled a crane on to a cement truck, officials said.
On Monday, the Houston fire department announced that an eighth person had died during the storm as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
