Indiana
WATCH | Drone video captures Big Boy rolling through Northwest Indiana
Indiana
Severe weather knocks out power in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio as ‘ring of fire’ strikes Midwest
CHICAGO — Severe weather cut power to more than half a million people in the Chicago area and northwestern Indiana as perilous thunderstorms and extreme wind gusts pummeled the region Tuesday, causing widespread damage.
Tornado warning sirens howled as the skies darkened. All flights were temporarily stopped at Chicago’s two major airports, and officials warned of delays as the backlog was cleared. In Ohio, power outages swept the state capital region, and at least one death was reported.
Photos posted on social media from the Chicago area, and across the state line in Indiana, showed flooded roads, trees tangled in power lines and homes with gashes in their roofs.
“No power. It was very scary. We were down in the basement,” said Javid Jenkins of Homewood, a Chicago suburb. “We’re built for snow. We’re built for cold. We’re not built for this.”
Jenkins, 54, said he was driving around for gas to fire up a generator to preserve food in his refrigerator.
Forecasters said a wind gust of 99 mph was recorded in Gary, Indiana. Elsewhere there were numerous reports of gusts of 80 mph or more at personal weather stations.
Preliminary information indicated that the intense system that swept from Iowa into Indiana over several hours qualified as a derecho, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said Tuesday evening. Derechos are prolonged straight-line wind events that unleash heavy rainfall and travel far distances. The damage they cause is sometimes comparable to the destructive forces of tornadoes or hurricanes.
The weather service bluntly warned earlier in the day: “These are dangerous storms!”
More than 600,000 customers lost electricity in Illinois and Indiana, according to poweroutage.us. Lake and Porter counties in Indiana and Will County, south of Chicago, were especially hard hit. Farther east in Ohio, at least 290,000 customers were without power.
“Total devastation. No roof,” said Kerry Hourigan, standing outside her home of 25 years in Tinley Park, another Chicago suburb. “Stupid thing, but my focus was I just bought a new barbecue grill, and I have no idea where that is. It’s disappeared.”
Meteorologist Scott Baker said the Midwest was on the outer edge of a “ring of fire,” bringing waves of excessive moisture, instability and storms.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said a resident of Roseville died during a health emergency when first responders, faced with flooded roads, couldn’t get there. He warned that flood dangers would persist.
“This is not something that will end tonight,” DeWine said of the severe weather.
Dayton, Ohio, set a daily rainfall record with 2.07 inches, shattering a mark set in 1915, the weather service said. Forecasters said multiple rounds of rain would cause flood hazards in the Ohio Valley through early Friday.
Officials in Columbus, Ohio, sent local government workers home early ahead of another round of storms. The library in Westerville, Ohio, closed after rain poured into the atrium.
The fifth day of the 10-day Lake County, Indiana, Fair was canceled, disappointing fans who were hoping to see a professional wrestling event.
Nearby in LaPorte County, Indiana, there was a “tremendous amount of tree damage,” Commissioner Joe Haney said.
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White reported from Detroit. Associated Press writers Jennifer Garske in Washington, Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.
Federal leaders recently announced a major overhaul of Head Start, the nation’s early education program for children from low-income families. Indiana leaders have said the cuts could be detrimental to children’s safety and the survival of rural programs.
The proposed reduction of standards announced last week would cut some 1,400 regulations from the program, affecting safety guardrails including classroom ratios and group size requirements. The changes would also eliminate requirements around parental engagement and serving children with disabilities.
The assistant secretary for family support within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Alex Adams, said these reforms are meant to save the government $2.2 billion, which they want to reinvest in the program by creating 200,000 more childcare spots.
The hallmark program was launched in 1965 and provides preschool and childcare services to newborns up until age 5, including meals and other support services for qualifying families.
Nationwide, the program currently serves over 700,000 kids, and in Indiana, close to 13,000 children use Head Start.
Rhett Cecil, the executive director for the Indiana Head Start Association, is speaking out against the proposed cuts. He said they do not strengthen what works about the program.
“We don’t build a stronger Indiana by starving children of opportunity. It’s just that simple,” Cecil told WFYI. “The Head Start standards have always been the gold standards in terms of early care and education.”
The 61-year old program has largely been viewed as a success by many researchers, but in recent years some conservatives have started criticizing the program, arguing it is a waste of money.
Congress allocated roughly $12.4 billion for the current fiscal year and the White House has called for flat funding for the 2027 fiscal year.
Other state programs across the country are also speaking out against the changes, arguing that it dismantles critical safety and educational safeguards for children.
Cecil says he’s particularly worried about vulnerable children being served in rural communities in Indiana, which make up over 50% of the state’s operators.
“Our rural Hoosier families do not have a second choice,” Cecil said. “If Head Start quality drops, nothing’s going to take its place for them.”
Federal leaders of the program argue that cuts are meant to give more power to states and parents on how to control their individual Head Start programs.
Indiana is also in the midst of revamping its own childcare regulations, which providers have also pushed back against, arguing it could weaken their workforce and state safety standards.
The public now has 60 days from when the proposed federal rule change is published to submit their public comment.
Contact Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org
Indiana Men’s Soccer Roster by Position
Forwards (10): Michael Adu-Gyamfi, Luka Bezerra, Easton Bogard, Oliver Moller-Jensen, Clay Murador, Stephane Njike, Collins Oduro, Dempsey Resich, Owen Sloan, Bennett Painter
Midfielders (7): EJ Dreher, Jacopo Fedrizzi, Charlie Heuer, Justin Shreffler, Alex Matthews, Grant Paskus, Wes Carnevale
Defenders (9): Alex Barger, Drew Gaydosh, Nolan Kinsella, Josh Maher, Breckin Minzey, Luke Reidell, Nick McHenry, Sam Hess, Vincent Uglow
Goalkeepers (4): Cooper Johnsen, AJ Piela, Michal Mroz, Ryan Hunsucker
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