Storms cause power outages and road closures in the United States

DETROIT — Heavy rains triggered flooding early Thursday, closing roads in the Detroit area, as multiple storms battered vast swathes of the central United States and left nearly a million homes and businesses without power in Michigan.

Storms occur as intense heat continues in the northwest, northeast, and parts of the center of the country. Extreme heat alerts remain in effect Thursday. Local authorities opened places to revive residents.

Sections of Highways 94 and 696 were closed Thursday in the Detroit area, along with Section I-696 in Livingston County. The Detroit area has experienced several floods this summer.

Utilities in Michigan have been working nonstop to restore service after a power outage due to high winds, and now reported more than 970,000 power outages in the state as of Thursday morning after early morning storms. Nearly 600,000 of these blackouts affected DTE Enwerby users in the southeast of the state.

The company said winds in excess of 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) caused extensive damage to trees, downing more than 3,000 power lines.

Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana have also been similarly affected by the recent storms. Power utility poles collapsed and transformers were damaged in Fort Wayne and South Bend in northwest Indiana due to storms on Wednesday.

In Wisconsin, residents experienced a sixth consecutive day of severe thunderstorms, and at least two tornadoes made landfall in parts of the northeastern and central western parts of the state. There were no immediate reports of damage.