Milwaukee search finds body of boy swept away after storm

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Searchers on Tuesday found the body of a 10-year-old boy who was swept away in a Milwaukee drainage ditch following severe thunderstorms that brought heavy rain and damaging winds to a wide swath of the Midwest and parts of the South.

The boy’s body was found during a search of the city’s drainage tunnels, WITI-TV reported. Two adults in their 30s who entered the water in an attempt to rescue the child Monday evening were still missing, according to Milwaukee fire and police officials.

Firefighters focused their search Tuesday on three connected tunnels that carry water to the Kinnickinnic River. Search crews did not enter the tunnels Monday night because of dangerous conditions and instead sent a drone inside in an attempt to locate the three, officials said. Police said all three knew each other, but didn’t elaborate.

The water was deep and fast-flowing following the severe storms, which also caused damage in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. And the storms also packed a punch early Tuesday as they rolled into West Virginia, where numerous roads were closed by downed trees and power lines.

According to the website PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, more than 400,000 electric customers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia were without service Tuesday afternoon.