MILWAUKEE (AP) - The National Weather Service is issuing flood watches for southern Wisconsin - a day after thunderstorms knocked out power to some areas and caused damage in Manitowoc County.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Saturday storms tore a roof of an elementary school in the Town of Cleveland in Manitowoc County. There were also reports of trees and power lines down, and a garage was blown off its foundation.
With heavy rains in the Sunday forecast, flood watches were issued for southern Wisconsin. The threat of flooding is expected to continue into Monday.
A flood warning was issued along the Wisconsin River at Portage. The National Weather Service says the river was 17.5 feet on Sunday morning - a half a foot above flood stage. The river is expected to begin receding Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a wave of severe thunderstorms blew across the southern half of Michigan, knocking out power to at least 174,000 homes and businesses and shutting down parts of two interstate highways because of fallen power lines.
CMS Energy Co. says the storms that hit Saturday afternoon blacked out 106,000 of its Consumers Energy electricity customers, and 95,000 were offline Sunday morning.
Jackson-based CMS Energy says the most affected counties are in west and mid-Michigan, including Muskegon at about 27,000.
DTE Energy Co. spokesman Scott Simons says that 58,000 of its 68,000 affected customers in metropolitan Detroit were without power Sunday morning, with heaviest damage in northern Oakland County.
WWJ-AM says Interstate 75 in both directions and southbound I-475 in southern Genesee County remained closed Sunday because of downed power lines.