Tornadoes hit Ohio Valley and Northeast as severe thunderstorms cause life-threatening flooding in West Virginia

By Meteorologists Mary Gilbert, Dakota Smith and Briana Waxman

(CNN) — Severe thunderstorms are plowing through the Ohio Valley and into the Mid-Atlantic, prompting a life-threatening flash flood emergency, the highest level of flood warning, in central West Virginia. Many locations have seen multiple rounds of storms packing heavy rain and strong winds.

Thunderstorms dropped more than 5 inches of rain in about six hours in parts of Upshur County, West Virginia Tuesday afternoon. The National Weather Service has tagged this as a “particularly dangerous situation,” noting several reports of swift water rescues and significant structure flooding. CNN has reached out to local authorities for more information.

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Tornadoes were reported in Kentucky, Ohio and New Jersey Tuesday, including one in Clermont County, Ohio.

Denise Davis, who lives in Clermont County, told CNN affiliate WKRC that she brought her grandchildren to the basement as soon as she heard the tornado warning.

“The winds picked up, the lights were flickering and then I heard a real loud bang, which of course was the tree falling onto the house,” she said.

Davis added that everyone was in a safe position under the basement stairs when the tree fell.

“I cried and then the grandbabies were crying,” Davis said, recounting the moment she first saw the tree on her house. “I just don’t know what to do from here.”

Two tornadoes were also observed in northern New Jersey after supercell thunderstorms marched over the area.

Severe thunderstorm watches stretch from Tennessee to Delaware, where damaging wind gusts greater than 60 mph are the most concerning threat, but tornadoes are also possible.

As of Tuesday evening, about 130,000 people in the storm-affected areas were without power, according to Poweroutage.us.

Flash flood warnings were issued for New York City Tuesday afternoon, but were lifted later in the evening.

The Big Apple’s sewer infrastructure is old and limited: Built over a century ago, the system is built to handle only about 1.75 inches of rainfall per hour.

In recent years, as more extreme weather events become common occurrences, the system has showed its limits. When the system backs up under pressure of large amounts of rainfall in short periods of time, it results in flooded streets in low lying areas, homes and subway stations.

Severe thunderstorm risk

Flood risk

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Gloria Pazmino, Julianna Bragg and Danya Gainor contributed to this report.

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