One person dead in US Midwest storms

Storms which swept through America's Midwest have left one person dead and caused severe flooding.

A woman was killed in Dundee Township, Illinois, when a tree struck her car at about noon on Saturday. The victim's name will be withheld until her family is informed.

Wind gusts of up to 80 mph were recorded in parts of the Midwest. The storm overturned tractor-trailer rigs and knocked out power supplies.

Heavy rain combined with melting snow to flood homes, roads and cellars in South Dakota and Minnesota. Flood warnings were in force in North Dakota.

Wind gusts measured at nearly 65 mph ripped a long section of original copper roofing off part of Nebraska's Capitol in Lincoln, said Mike Rindone, chief architect and project manager for the Capitol building's restoration project.

Elsewhere in Lincoln, a garage fire spread to two apartment buildings and eight families had to be evacuated. In Omaha, the wind damaged a church steeple, homes and businesses. Power failures have been reported throughout the eastern half of Nebraska.