Rainstorms Lash Eastern Half of U.S. : Power Lost, Roads Flooded; 4 Youths Struck by Lightning

Thunderstorms with high winds and heavy rains stretched from Missouri to New England today, flooding roads and knocking out power to thousands of homes in Illinois, Ohio and Connecticut. Lightning struck four golfers in Michigan.

The powerful thunderstorms churned up a tornado in Illinois, and the storms drenched Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia, flooding basements and blocking roads.

Belpre, Ohio, on the Ohio River, had nearly 5 1/2 inches of rain in four hours, and flooding and power outages were reported in surrounding Washington County. Parkersburg, W.Va., had 4 inches overnight. Five inches of rain fell near Hunnewell, Mo.

In East Lansing, Mich., four teen-agers competing in the Michigan Junior Invitational Golf Tournament at Michigan State University were struck by lightning.

Two Critically Injured

The four initially had decided to wait out the storm in a shelter but later chose to make a dash for the clubhouse, a university spokesman said. Two of the youths were in critical condition, one was admitted to the hospital for observation and the condition of the fourth was not known.

Michigan State officials canceled the one-day tournament after the accident.

In Williamston, Mich., high winds damaged several buildings. A small, single-engine plane was tossed about 500 feet into a crane and then dropped onto a farm, an Ingham County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

A tornado touched down in Springfield, Ill., destroying a mobile home, toppling power lines and damaging cars. About 1,000 residents were without power this morning.

Thunderstorms knocked out power across Ohio for Columbus and Southern Ohio Electric Co. customers. Efforts to restore power were hampered by a strike by linemen and repair crews that forced supervisors to fill in.

Thousands Lost Power

In Windsor Locks, Conn., several thousand customers lost power when thunderstorms swept through the area.

Heavy rains forced Connecticut State Police to reduce traffic to one lane on Interstate 84 in East Hartford after water piled up to almost two feet in a construction area.

Storms also were scattered across the southern and central Rockies and Arizona and along the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Almost two inches of rain Sunday night in northeast Colorado put some streets under three feet of water and stranded cars.

Many roads and streets were flooded in the southern Denver metropolitan area.