Tornadoes Hit Midwest; Tropical Storm Approaches Gulf Coast

[00:00:02]Overnight, severe storms tearing through the Midwest, spawning at least seven reported tornadoes, including in Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin, where this drone captured a twister close up. In Michigan, the storms producing water spouts over Lake Superior. And farther west, monsoon storms sweeping through parts of Arizona and even blowing this grill right off a back patio. It comes after days of heavy rain and flooding across the US. In Ohio, authorities say five adults drowned in a river near Columbus Sunday after one started struggling and others jumped in to help. A child forced to flag down drivers who called 911.

[00:00:42]>> Holy moly. In West Virginia, the governor declaring a state of emergency for areas ravaged by recent flooding so powerful it destroyed roads and bridges.

[00:00:53]Parts of Utah also in recovery mode.

[00:00:56]Officials now confirming Provo Fire Captain Spencer Long, his wife, and three sons were killed by flash floods while hiking on Friday. Provo's mayor writing, "We are absolutely heartbroken."

[00:01:08]>> Farther south, states along the Gulf Coast now bracing for Bera, the second tropical storm of the season.

[00:01:15]>> While there may not be as much rain, we could still experience inland flooding.

[00:01:21]Now, at this hour, we don't have any reports of injuries from these latest overnight storms, but of course, it is early. I'll also point out over the last few days, the story here in Chicago has been that Canadian wildfire smoke over the skyline. The rain overnight did a lot to dissipate that with that system.

[00:01:37]Now, of course, on the move, Willie, >> few days ahead across the country.

[00:01:41]Maggie Vespa, thanks Maggie.

[00:01:42]>> All right, let's turn now to Dylan.

[00:01:43]She's in for Al this morning. Good morning to you.

[00:01:46]>> Good morning. There is a lot going on, so let's get right to it. And first we have this warm front cold front combo that's going to move through the northeast. That's why we are going to see those lines of storms continue to develop. We'll see popup showers and storms early on and then a line of storms as the cold front itself moves through. Numerous storms are expected with torrential downpours. We could also see a lot of wind damage, wind gusts up to about 65 miles per hour or higher.

[00:02:10]And in this area in orange here, that's also a spot where we could see some quick spin-up tornadoes. We're not expecting long track tornadoes, but still keep an eye out for those alerts.

[00:02:20]Now, again, here is the main line of storms, the torrential downpours, the cloud to ground lightning, but we also have these popup storms that will continue to develop throughout the entire day. So, that's why you have to keep an eye to the sky. And just know if you're out driving, you could run into some of these heavier downpours. And with all the rain we had over the weekend, that could lead to a brief period of flooding, especially all up into southern New England back through the interior northeast stretching all the way back into Tennessee with rainfall rates of about 1 to two inches per hour. So that's why we have the threat of flooding with rainfall totals especially down through Virginia where we could see the rain train over the same areas over and over again picking up about three maybe even four inches.

[00:03:01]Now let's get to tropical storm Bertha.

[00:03:03]storm itself is now a tropical system and the most rain that we're seeing is now out over the Gulf. So that is good news when it comes to torrential downpours. However, with this spin going like this pushing that water on shore if this makes landfall or comes close to it at the time of high tide. That's when we could see some of that flooding especially right along the coastline.

[00:03:26]So, we are going to see these tropical storm watches and warnings in effect for the next couple of days as this storm system kind of meanders to the west northwest. And then as we go into Wednesday, tomorrow, that's when we could see that landfall. But still, either way, not a powerful storm, but a lot of rain and some of those onshore winds could produce a lot of flooding in that area too, Willie.

[00:03:45]>> Busy morning for you today, D. We'll see you in another minute. Thank you. Hey, thanks for watching and don't forget you can catch the Today Show every morning on NBC or take today when you're on the go. Just follow the Today Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen.