Deadly severe weather roars through several states, spawning potential tornadoes

Thousands of homes and businesses were without power Tuesday as severe weather roared through several states, causing at least one death and spawning possible tornadoes.

Parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia and Georgia were under tornado watches into Tuesday night, while Wisconsin was experiencing a spring snowstorm.

Storms in Northeastern Oklahoma unleashed three suspected tornadoes and dumped heavy rain that was blamed for the death of a 46-year-old homeless woman in Tulsa who was sheltering inside a drainage pipe.

The woman’s boyfriend told authorities the two had gone to sleep at the entrance of the drainage pipe and were awakened by floodwaters, Tulsa Fire Department spokesperson Andy Little said. Up to 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) of rain fell in Tulsa in about an hour, National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Darby said.

“It wasn’t a whole lot. But when it came down, it was pretty rapid,” Darby said.

In West Virginia, about 140,000 customers were without electricity Tuesday afternoon, or about 14% of all customers tracked in the state by poweroutage.us. A storm blew off part of a vacant building’s roof in Charleston, littering the street with bricks and closing the roadway to traffic. Trees were uprooted and lay in roads, lawns and in some cases, on top of cars.

Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for several counties and urged people to “exercise extreme caution.”

In Ohio, firefighters rescued two people who were trapped under a bridge Tuesday morning when a river began rising. The two were sleeping when the Scioto River started to rise, preventing them from returning to shore, the Columbus Fire Department reported. A fire department boat was sent to rescue them. No injuries were reported.

Mindy Broughton rushed into her mobile home Tuesday morning as hail began and winds picked up at the RV Park where she lives near Hanging Rock, Ohio.

Broughton and her fiance hunkered down as the mobile home quickly began rocking. Broughton said her fiance used his body to shield her as the winds raged outside.

“I said I think we may die today,” she said.

In a matter of seconds, the winds died down. When Broughton opened her mobile home door, she saw the RV Park littered with debris and overturned RVs. Luckily, Broughton said there was no one inside the overturned mobile homes.

Northeast of Cincinnati, part of Interstate 75 was blocked Tuesday afternoon when about a half-dozen power poles toppled in high winds near Wetherington, WLWT-TV reported.

In Wisconsin, forecasters warned more than a foot (30 centimeters) of heavy snow could fall in eastern parts of the state, including the Green Bay area. The state’s top election official, Meagan Wolfe, urged residents planning to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primaries to consider voting earlier in the day to avoid travel woes.

The National Weather Service said snowfall totals could range from 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) over central Wisconsin and 8 to 14 inches (20 to 35 centimeters) over eastern Wisconsin, while wind gusts of 30 mph to 50 mph (48 kph to 80 kph) will create very limited visibility and make travel difficult.

“Just three weeks ago, we were in the 70s. So that kind of got people thinking spring is right around the corner — and here we’re in April and we’re getting a major snowstorm," meteorologist Scott Cultice with the weather service’s Green Bay office said. “As people say, ‘That’s springtime in Wisconsin.’"

More than 70,000 homes and businesses in Wisconsin had lost power Tuesday night, according to poweroutage.us.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency after severe storms swept through his state Tuesday morning.

“We have reports of substantial damage to a number of structures — and thankfully, as of right now we are not aware of any fatalities,” Beshear said in a statement.

Another round of storms Tuesday afternoon led to multiple tornado warnings in Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.

One person was hurt and taken to a hospital after a tree came down on their house in Lexington, Kentucky, Mayor Linda Gorton told WLEX-TV. Homes were damaged and a tree crushed a University of Kentucky student's car.

“I looked out my blinds and I see the wind just start roaring,” Reese Sherrard told the news outlet. "I see one big tree just fall right on top of my car. No trees fell on our house, so it seems like we got pretty lucky.”

In Louisville on Tuesday night, Mayor Craig Greenberg reported “serious” storm damage in the nearby city of Prospect and throughout the county, but said no injuries had been reported. He said fire crews were checking on people street by street in the most impacted areas and that he had declared a county-wide state of emergency.

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in northeast Tennessee on Tuesday. A funeral home and a house were damaged in the town of Sunbright, a town of about 500 people, said Matthew Brown, Morgan County’s 911 director. Power lines and trees were down, and some roads were closed, he said.

The utility company in Memphis, Tennessee, reported that about 40,000 homes and businesses lost power temporarily Tuesday morning after an electric substation was struck by lightning, which then affected two other substations.

Storms also swept through far southwestern Indiana on Tuesday morning, toppling trees and causing power outages, leading several local school districts to cancel classes. More than 18,000 homes and businesses were without power shortly before noon Tuesday, including in Vanderburgh County, home to Evansville, Indiana’s third-largest city.

Severe weather was expected to move into New England on Wednesday night into Thursday, with forecasts of 12 to 18 inches (30 to 46 centimeters) of snow in parts of New Hampshire and Maine and lesser amounts in other areas, the National Weather Service said. Wind gusts could reach 50 mph (80 kph) in some places, bringing the possibility of power outages.

Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Oklahoma City, Rick Callahan in Indianapolis, Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia, John Raby in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, Beatrice Dupuy in New York, Rebecca Reynolds in Louisville, Kentucky, and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed to this report.

Workers cut up downed trees lying across the road following severe storms that passed through Prospect, Ky., Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

A worker cut up downed tress lying across the road following severe storms that passed through Prospect, Ky., Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Capt. Patrick Staudenheimer, left, with the Anchorage Middletown Fire Department, speaks with an employee of the Louisville Gas and Electric company informing him of possible gas leaks following severe storms in Prospect, Ky., Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Firefighters with the Anchorage Middletown Fire Department check houses for gas leaks following severe storms that passed through Prospect, Ky., Tuesday, April 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

A large tree lies across the front yard of a house in the Hunting Creek neighborhood in Prospect, Ky., Tuesday, April 2, 2024, following a severe storm that passed through the area. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

A large tree lays across the front yard of a house in the Hunting Creek neighborhood in Prospect, Ky., Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Severe storms passed through the area uprooting trees and cutting power to many areas. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Utility crews work on a power line Tuesday, April 2, 2024, following severe storms in Cross Lanes, W.Va. (AP Photo/John Raby)

A steel billboard and its support were blown over in Dunbar, W.Va., Tuesday, April 2, 2024, after severe storms blew through the area. (Chris Dorst/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP)

Raindrops fall on a window pane as a pedestrian walks by on Tuesday, Apr 4, 2024, during a heavy rainfall in Philadelphia. (Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Pedestrians make their way through the snowy weather in Stockholm, Sweden April 2, 2024. Winter is not yet over in southern Sweden, spring took a break after a few Easter days with higher temperatures. (Anders Wiklund/TT via AP)

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — An endangered sawfish rescued last month in the Florida Keys after it was spotted acting erratically and swimming in circles has died as wildlife officials continue to search for what is causing fish to become distressed.

The Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota said in a statement that the 11-foot (3.3-meter) smalltooth sawfish died Thursday at the facility, where it had been undergoing treatment. It was rescued April 5 off Cudjoe Key, part of an abnormal fish die-off that has killed at least 45 sawfish and other fish species as well.

Authorities say a necropsy will be performed to possibly shed light on what is affecting the fish, which could take weeks or months to determine. It was humanely euthanized because its condition had deteriorated recently.

“It was always our cautious hope to be able to utilize the best available science for the rehabilitation and release of the sawfish,” said Mote Marine President and CEO Michael Crosb y. “Sadly, even with our best efforts, the animal was too compromised to recover.”

Sawfish, an ancient species named for their long snout with rows of teeth on each side, were once found all along the Gulf of Mexico and southern Atlantic coasts in the U.S., but now are mainly confined to southwestern Florida and the Keys island chain as their habitats shrink.

Sawfish necropsies have not revealed any pathogen or bacterial infections, nor problems with low water oxygen levels or contaminants such as chemicals, or toxic red tide. Water testing is continuing.

Another potential factor is climate change, which superheated Florida waters last summer, causing other marine damage, such as coral bleaching and the deaths of other marine species. The waters are unusually warm already this year as well.

FILE - This photo provided by Mote Marine Lab shows a sawfish, April 5, 2024, in Florida's Lower Keys. The endangered sawfish rescued last month in the Florida Keys after it was spotted acting erratically and swimming in circles died Thursday, May 2, as wildlife officials continue to search for what is causing fish to become distressed. (Mote Marine Lab via AP, File)