Several hundred thousand homes and businesses were without power Thursday after severe storms swept through the Midwest — damaging buildings and structures across a wide swath and causing more than a thousand flight delays and cancellations. One person died after being struck by a tree in Iowa, police said.

The National Weather Service said it received more than a dozen reports of tornadoes Wednesday across northern Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Illinois. Trees and utility wires were reported down across the region.

In Des Moines, Iowa, a 54-year-old man died at a homeless encampment in a park after being hit by a tree that “broke apart and fell during strong storms,” police said in a statement. The man was found critically injured Thursday morning and died at the scene, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of other deaths or injuries from the storms.

Severe weather was expected to continue in the region on Thursday, while the Northeast and mid-Atlantic were bracing for high heat and humidity as well as a slight risk of strong storms through Friday, according to the weather service.

Storm damages animal shelter in Illinois

Residents of Springfield, Illinois, believe a tornado touched down in their area late Wednesday. Two buildings at the Animal Protective League animal shelter in Springfield were heavily damaged, but none of the nearly 150 cats and 28 dogs housed there were injured, said Deana Corbin, the group’s executive director.

“It pretty much wiped out our shelter facility, took the roofs off both of our buildings,” Corbin said. “It’s a miracle. We were so blessed to not have any injuries of either people or animals.”

The community pitched in to take in all the cats and dogs temporarily, including a local animal control center, veterinarians and residents, she said.

Damage also was reported at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield.

Weather service meteorologist Frank Pereira said the frontal system that produced the storms, including high winds and hail, was moving eastward Thursday, fueled by cool air from Canada clashing with warm, humid air from the South.

“Going forward, we’re expecting another area of severe weather to develop across portions of the central Plains, Midwest, particularly from Iowa, northern Missouri, northeastward through the Great Lakes,” Pereira said. “Again, it’s all tied into a pretty well-defined frontal system.”

Tornado warnings were issued in Iowa north of Des Moines on Thursday as strong storms hit the area.

Record high temperatures expected along East Coast

Potentially dangerous heat and high humidity also was forecast Thursday and Friday for a swath of the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, where daily high record temperatures could be broken in numerous places, the weather service said. Temperatures in the mid-90s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius) were expected, but with the humidity it could feel like 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) or more, the service said.

Philadelphia declared a heat health emergency for Thursday and Friday, activating cooling centers, home visits by field teams, outreach to people experiencing homelessness and other services. New York City officials were also urging residents to take precautions, including drinking plenty of water and finding a cool place to stay if they do not have air conditioning.

Wednesday storms moved into the Chicago area in the afternoon, downing trees and damaging some buildings.

Severe weather wreaks havoc on air travel, power lines

The two major Chicago airports, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport, temporarily put all flights on hold in the evening due to thunderstorms. A similar ground stop was issued at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York due to thunderstorms.

By Wednesday evening, more than 1,000 flights going into and out of Chicago had been delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website.

Air traffic appeared to return to normal Thursday morning, with only 25 flight cancellations nationwide, although there were 300 delays, FlightAware reported. But the Federal Aviation Administration said it expected thunderstorms to cause more flight delays Thursday.

Strong winds blew part of the roof off an apartment building in the Chicago area, forcing residents to leave, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Elsewhere, barns collapsed in Wisconsin and buildings were crushed in rural northern Missouri, photos and video online showed.

More than 300,000 customers had no electricity in the Midwest on Thursday, down from about 390,000 earlier in the morning. There were nearly 190,000 outages in Illinois, down from 226,000 earlier the morning. A large number of outages in Cook County, including Chicago, had been fixed. Another 74,000 homes and businesses were without power in Michigan, according to poweroutage.us.

Commonwealth Edison Company, which provides electric service across northern Illinois, said the storms had downed poles and wires.

“We know how difficult and frustrating it is to be without power, and we truly appreciate your patience,” the company said in a post on X early Thursday morning. “Right now, more than 100 crews are working around the clock to safely and efficiently restore service after this unique storm brought widespread damage and challenging conditions across our service area.”

The storms soaked Rate Field in Chicago before Wednesday night’s game between the White Sox and the Atlanta Braves.

(AP)