BELLEVILLE, Ill., June 9 (UPI) -- Severe weather threatened U.S. Plains states Tuesday, with Kansas City, Oklahoma City and St. Louis all at risk for powerful thunderstorms, forecasters said.
In the South, thunderstorms belted Florida, where officials reported a man was struck and killed by lightning while he mowed his lawn.
Tornadoes were reported in Illinois and Wisconsin Monday, downing trees and power lines, while thunderstorms produced damaging wind gusts and quarter-sized hail, the Racine (Wis.) Journal Times reported.
More than 3,500 customers were without electrical power Tuesday morning in the Belleville-Shiloh-Mascoutah area in Illinois, east of St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch said. The National Weather Service received several tornado reports from spotters in the Missouri-Illinois area, although sightings must be confirmed by NWS.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said Dessalines Oleus, 53, of Pompano Beach, was in front of an apartment building as a storm rolled through Monday. Florida has the highest number of lightning casualties of all 50 states, the National Weather Service said.
The intense thunderstorm raced across west Broward County, producing hail and lightning, the National Weather Service said. Monday's storm followed several days of violent rainstorms across the region.
Another lightning bolt sparked a fire that threatened children in a two-story home in Weston.
