Storms bring deadly flood to Pittsburgh; tornado hits Wisconsin (Reuters)

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) – Severe storms were expected in the Midwest on Saturday and then to add to weekend weather woes in the Northeast, where flash flooding killed at least three people in Pittsburgh on Friday.

Heavy rains submerged cars in flood water that was nine feet deep in places in Pittsburgh, authorities said.

The three victims, identified as a woman and two children, died after their vehicle was pinned against a tree on Washington Boulevard near the Allegheny River.

They were unable to escape, Michael Huss, the city's public safety director, said at a news conference late Friday.

"We have crews that are continuing to search," he said.

Some 18 cars were stranded in the flooding and 11 people had to be rescued, according to local media reports.

Rescue crews used inflatable rafts to reach stranded drivers. Power was out to 8,400 customers.

Earlier, the National Weather Service had issued a flash flood watch for Allegheny County as storms pounded the area, bringing three to four inches of rain, according to the NWS.

Nearly half of all flood fatalities are vehicle related, the NWS warned early Saturday morning in a flood advisory.

"As little as six inches of water will cause you to lose control of your vehicle," the NWS stated. "Two feet of water will carry most vehicles away."

Saturday no active flash flood warnings were in effect from the National Weather Service, but meteorologists for The Weather Channel forecast more storms from the Great Lakes to the Central Plains for the day and into the night.

One man died as storms and a suspected tornado roared across northern Wisconsin on Friday night, cutting off power to around 2,000 homes, the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management said.

The man was staying in a rented trailer home in the path of the storm, which downed trees in a mile-long swath just north of Wausaukee, 65 miles north of Green Bay, a Marinette County sheriff's spokesman said.

"At around 5 p.m. we had an apparent tornado in the Wausaukee area. We have one fatality," said Lori Getter, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management. She identified the person who died as a middle-aged man.

Friday's storm came three months after a massive tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri, killing 155 people in the deadliest tornado to hit the United States in over 60 years.

Damaging winds and hail were the primary threats for cities like St. Louis, Detroit and Chicago on Saturday, according to weather.com.

Saturday morning, the NWS Doppler radar indicated a fast-moving thunderstorm near Chicago capable of creating "half dollar sized hail," "damaging winds in excess of 60 mph," "deadly lightning," and "very heavy rain."

Saturday's thunderstorm threat will shift to the Northeast Sunday.

(Additional reporting by John Rondy in Milwaukee and Cynthia Johnston in Las Vegas; Writing by Molly O'Toole; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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One man dead as storms cut through northern Wisconsin (Reuters)

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – One man died as storms and a suspected tornado roared across northern Wisconsin on Friday night, cutting off power to around 2,000 homes, the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management said.

"At around 5 p.m. we had an apparent tornado in the Wausaukee area. We have one fatality," said Lori Getter, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management. She identified the person who died as a middle-aged man.

She said that the storm had downed a number of trees and power lines in Marinette county and that some damage was also reported in nearby Menominee county. Some 2,000 homes were without power but the storms had passed.

The storm came three months after a massive tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri, and killed 155 people in the deadliest tornado to hit the United States in more than 60 years.

(Additional reporting by John Rondy. Writing by Cynthia Johnston. Editing by Peter Bohan)

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Historic Wisconsin recalls boil to a head with votes (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Months of political rancor and a tsunami of special interest spending come to a head on Tuesday with historic recall votes for Wisconsin state lawmakers that some see as a pointer for the 2012 election.

Control of the Wisconsin state Senate lies in the balance in the largest number of recall elections in U.S. history, which are also being seen as a referendum on newly elected Republican Governor Scott Walker's conservative policies.

The high stakes fight has drawn $25 million of spending by special interest groups from both sides aimed at swaying the nine recall races, a nonpartisan watchdog group has said.

"I think to a certain extent it is almost a dry run," said Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee government affairs professor and former Democratic lawmaker. "It is almost like an exhibition game or the preseason opener for them."

Victories for Democrats could bolster efforts to launch a recall of Walker next year, while Republican wins could freeze that bid in its tracks and give the national party momentum toward defeating President Barack Obama in 2012.

Republicans rode a wave of election victories last November across the United States and in Wisconsin took control of the state Assembly, the Senate and the governor's office.

Walker led a drive this year to curb the power of public sector unions, cutting at a financial base for Democrats, and arguing that tax-funded workers had to absorb higher healthcare costs and accept cuts to stem deficits.

The moves put a national spotlight on Walker and the Republicans, igniting massive pro-union protests and political fights that led to recall petitions aimed at all lawmakers eligible under state law -- eight senators from each party. Recalls were approved against six Republicans and three Democrats.

The six incumbent Republican senators face challengers on Tuesday. Two incumbent Democrats face Republican challengers on August 16. The third Democratic senator held his seat in July.

Complicating the read of any results on Tuesday's votes will be the sour national mood after a bitter partisan fight from U.S. debt ceiling talks, the downgrade of the U,S, national credit rating on Friday night by Standard & Poor's, and the worst week for the U.S. stock market since 2008.

One thing is certain, the Wisconsin elections will make history. There had been only 20 state-level recall elections in U.S. history before this year. Ten are planned, included one for Arizona state Senate President Russell Pearce in November.

A REFERENDUM ON REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR?

Turnout is expected to be much higher than in nonpartisan or special elections. The six districts could go either way.

Democrats need to gain a net three seats to take control of the Senate, which would make it harder for Wisconsin Republicans to enact their social and fiscal priorities.

"I think the nine elections are truly a quasi statewide referendum on Scott Walker and the Republican legislature," Lee said. "They are about every decision, every law they have passed in the last six months."

Candidates said the differences between the parties were clear and few voters they encountered were undecided.

"People feel they've been shut out and there's an extreme agenda coming into Wisconsin from outside interests," said Democratic candidate Jessica King, who is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Randy Hopper.

King lost the 2008 election to Hopper by 163 votes.

Hopper said the Republican budget changes were working to create jobs and Democrats had focused on controversy in his personal life, including his divorce, because they can't show that changes to collective bargaining have hurt the state.

"What we've done in the legislature so far is proving to work," Hopper said. "I believe we're going to solve a lot of our problems by creating more consumers."

Republican Senator Sheila Harsdorf, who is being challenged by Democrat Shelly Moore, said she was elected to "make the tough decisions" and balance the budget without raising taxes.

"When you look at the challenging economy, not just in Wisconsin but across the country ... I think people recognize that we have to get our fiscal house in order," Harsdorf said.

Democratic Representative Jennifer Shilling, who is running against incumbent Republican Senator Dan Kapanke, said Democrats must focus on voter turnout during a vacation week.

"People have indicated they are frustrated with the current leadership," Shilling said, saying Kapanke "did not listen to them over the course of the collective bargaining debate."

Millions of dollars have poured into the election from outside Wisconsin. Candidates alone have spent more than $5 million, with Kapanke and Republican Senator Alberta Darling easily eclipsing the record spending for a state Senate seat.

Darling faces Democratic Representative Sandy Pasch in the Milwaukee area. In the other two races, Republican Senator Luther Olsen faces Democratic Representative Fred Clark and Republican Senator Robert Cowles faces Democrat Nancy Nusbaum.

On the Democratic side, union-supported We Are Wisconsin has raised $9.7 million, while financial support for Republican incumbents has poured in from conservative groups such as Americans For Prosperity and the Club for Growth.

"It is beyond amazing, astounding, stupefying, incredible, jaw-dropping, it is beyond all of that," Lee said of the spending by campaigns and groups. "It's all that, cubed."

(Reporting by David Bailey and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Peter Bohan)

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Severe Storm Causes Two Deaths in Wisconsin (ContributorNetwork)

Severe storms moved through Wisconsin and Minnesota on Friday, resulting in tragedy in one Wisconsin county where countless people were camping and getting ready for the holiday weekend. One 11-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on her after it was struck by lightning. The Associated Press reported that the girl was from Minnesota but did not release her name.

According to Wisconsin Emergency Management Agency, the girl was camping in Burnett County with her family when the storm hit. The Agency reported that two deaths resulted from this storm. The other death occurred when a local man suffered a heart attack but it was not clear if the heart attack was related to the storm.

More than three dozen other people in northwestern Wisconsin were injured by the storm and reports stated that this weather event brought 80 mile per hour winds, softball size hail and plenty of damage. Campgrounds, lakes, rivers and state parks suffered damage from downed trees. The storm knocked out power to thousands of homes in eastern South Dakota and western Wisconsin.

This round of storms affected areas that normally have smaller populations but due to the Fourth of July holiday, thousands of visitors had already started packing the campgrounds that were hit by the storm.

This year has already seen excessive weather events that have grabbed headlines and plenty of attention. A number of EF-5 tornadoes have struck at various locations in the United States and caused extreme death and destruction. Town names such as Joplin and Tuscaloosa have become synonymous with severe weather due to this year's tornado season. Historically, Wisconsin has not been known for having a high number of storm fatalities or injuries.

For example, 2010 statistics from the National Weather Service show that the state experienced six storm-related fatalities last year and 50 injuries. In contrast, Oklahoma had the highest number of injuries in 2010 with 410 while Tennessee had the highest number of deaths at 53.

Wisconsin EMA reported that several counties had storm damage and power outages from this storm. The agency stated that the hardest hit counties in northwest Wisconsin were Douglas, Burnett and Washburn counties where there were reports of at least two homes destroyed. WEMA reported that a hanger in Solon Springs had one wall collapse due to the storm causing the building to fall on a small single engine plane. It was reported that the high winds blew away the roof of the hanger building.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope--a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and other natural phenomena.

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Severe Storm Causes Two Deaths in Wisconsin (ContributorNetwork)

Severe storms moved through Wisconsin and Minnesota on Friday, resulting in tragedy in one Wisconsin county where countless people were camping and getting ready for the holiday weekend. One 11-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on her after it was struck by lightning. The Associated Press reported that the girl was from Minnesota but did not release her name.

According to Wisconsin Emergency Management Agency, the girl was camping in Burnett County with her family when the storm hit. The Agency reported that two deaths resulted from this storm. The other death occurred when a local man suffered a heart attack but it was not clear if the heart attack was related to the storm.

More than three dozen other people in northwestern Wisconsin were injured by the storm and reports stated that this weather event brought 80 mile per hour winds, softball size hail and plenty of damage. Campgrounds, lakes, rivers and state parks suffered damage from downed trees. The storm knocked out power to thousands of homes in eastern South Dakota and western Wisconsin.

This round of storms affected areas that normally have smaller populations but due to the Fourth of July holiday, thousands of visitors had already started packing the campgrounds that were hit by the storm.

This year has already seen excessive weather events that have grabbed headlines and plenty of attention. A number of EF-5 tornadoes have struck at various locations in the United States and caused extreme death and destruction. Town names such as Joplin and Tuscaloosa have become synonymous with severe weather due to this year's tornado season. Historically, Wisconsin has not been known for having a high number of storm fatalities or injuries.

For example, 2010 statistics from the National Weather Service show that the state experienced six storm-related fatalities last year and 50 injuries. In contrast, Oklahoma had the highest number of injuries in 2010 with 410 while Tennessee had the highest number of deaths at 53.

Wisconsin EMA reported that several counties had storm damage and power outages from this storm. The agency stated that the hardest hit counties in northwest Wisconsin were Douglas, Burnett and Washburn counties where there were reports of at least two homes destroyed. WEMA reported that a hanger in Solon Springs had one wall collapse due to the storm causing the building to fall on a small single engine plane. It was reported that the high winds blew away the roof of the hanger building.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope--a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and other natural phenomena.

View the original article here