Woman dies after tree falls on house

AUTHORITIES in Virginia, USA, say severe storms claimed the life of an elderly woman after a tree fell on her house.

The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release the tree fell on Monday at 1.43am. It injured an 82-year-old man and killed a 78-yearold woman. Both had been asleep.

The man was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Stafford County is about an hour south of Washington.

Strong storms, including at least one tornado, swept through parts of the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic region, damaging homes and businesses and causing injuries after storms in the south killed at least eight people.

Storms that hit Ohio on Sunday and moved into New Jersey overnight into Monday brought heavy rains, lightning and strong wind.

In Shelby, Ohio, the National Weather Service said an EF2 tornado with winds of up to 200km/h touched down on Sunday.

No deaths were reported, but emergency officials said several homes and businesses were damaged and at least six people were injured.

The weather service says an EF0 tornado with maximum winds of about 115km/h also swept through part of Clark County in western Ohio on Sunday, and damaged some mobile homes. There were no reports of injuries.

Storms on Monday spawned a tornado watch and flooded roadways in some areas of New Jersey, causing a roof to collapse at an apartment complex in Camden, though no injuries were reported.

The weather disrupted rail service in the mid-Atlantic region, caused delays at airports and left tens of thousands of people without power.

More than 20000 customers lost power in New Jersey when the storms hit, though crews were able to quickly restore service to most.

Vermont officials say flooding from spring rains closed a number of roads on Monday.

Four people were killed in Texas in tornadoes. Other victims reportedly died in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. |