Tornado warnings in Chicago, flash flood emergency, water rescues in Ohio, as waves of storms sweep the Midwest and East

By Meteorologists Chris Dolce, Briana Waxman, CNN

(CNN) — Significant flash flooding and destructive winds are underway from the Midwest to the central Appalachians and more drenching downpours and severe storms are incoming.

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Clusters of storms have sparked severe thunderstorm, flash flood and tornado warnings, including in Chicago, across these regions much of Tuesday morning. Multiple rounds of storms will fire up and track over these same areas over the next several days, raising the flood threat.

Here’s the latest:

• Flash flood emergency: Water rescues are ongoing in Perry County, Ohio, the state’s emergency management director told CNN. Videos on social media showed rescuers in rafts navigating powerful currents of water coursing through the streets of Crooksville, a village in the county. A rare flash flood emergency – the highest level of flash flood warning – was issued there early Tuesday after about a month’s worth of rain fell in 3 hours. New rounds of heavy rain arrived late Tuesday morning and are threatening to worsen flooding in the area.
• Multiday flood threat: Flood watches have been issued for more 20 million people in the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians. Extreme rainfall rates from repeated storms could deliver more than a month’s worth of rain in hours.
• Destructive winds: The storms could down trees and knock out power with potential hurricane-force wind gusts, especially from Illinois to Ohio, Indiana and eastern Kentucky on Tuesday. Multiple severe thunderstorm watches are in effect across this area into the afternoon and include Charleston, West Virginia, Chicago and Indianapolis. Wind gusts over 80 mph were clocked in parts of Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, as storms tore through those areas.
• Widespread power outages: More than 150,000 homes and businesses in Ohio were without power Tuesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. Storms in the Mid-Atlantic knocked out power to nearly 175,000 homes and businesses across four states Monday night, with the bulk of outages reported in Virginia.

Hundreds forced from homes amid Ohio flooding

Around 200 people were forced to leave, or unable to access, their homes after floodwater rose 6 to 10 feet in low-lying areas of Perry County, Ohio Emergency Management Agency Executive Director Sima Merick told CNN. Flooding has also overtopped two bridges there.

No injuries, deaths or missing people have been reported in the county, Merick said, adding three shelters are open for displaced residents.

Two state swift water rescue teams have been deployed to assist with the ongoing rescues, according to Merick, joining response teams from adjacent counties.

Multiple roads in Perry County have been closed due to high water, according to Ohio transportation department spokesperson Chas Cosgrave.

More rounds of storms to come

Flash flooding is possible though Tuesday night in a stripe from Chicago to Baltimore and Washington, DC, but the most serious threat is in parts of the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians.

That’s where a Level 3 of 4 threat of flooding rainfall has been issued that includes Charleston, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and eastern portions of Indianapolis.

A slow-moving front interacting with juicy tropical air is causing the stormy pattern. Rainfall rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour are possible in the most intense downpours.

Such extreme rainfall is becoming more common in a world warming due to fossil fuel pollution. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture that storms can tap into and ring out in more intense spurts.

Many of the same areas at risk for flooding on Tuesday could also see more intense storms with winds capable of tearing down trees and knocking out power.

The most widespread destructive winds will occur in one or two clusters of storms that track from northern Illinois to parts of Indiana, Ohio and eastern Kentucky through this afternoon and evening. Wind gusts over 75 mph are possible in a few spots. The tornado risk is low, but one or two are possible.

The flood threat zone will remain largely unchanged on Wednesday and Thursday. Areas where the ground is already waterlogged because of storms earlier in the week will be even more prone to flooding.

Storm totals could top 6 inches in locations the storms pummel on more than one day this week. Some places could even pick up those totals in a matter of several hours.

Flooding impacts could become more serious and damaging in locations that see these higher rainfall totals.

Over 6 inches of rain is close to double the average August rainfall of 3.43 inches in Cincinnati and 3.75 inches in Charleston, West Virginia.

For others, some roads are likely to flood and creeks and streams could also overflow their banks. Urban, low-lying and poor drainage areas as well as the mountainous parts of West Virginia will be most prone to flooding.

The risk of heavy rain lasts into Friday in some areas, but the wet pattern should ease up this weekend when storm-killing high pressure arrives.

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