Storms kill man in Kansas after campers toppled at state park; flood watches continue

Recovery efforts were underway Friday after storms led to the death of one man in Kansas, after heavy rains and strong winds wreaked havoc on a lake recreation area that is popular with trailer campers.

A 64-year-old man identified as Christopher Montoya was found dead at Hell Creek in Wilson State Park, the Russell County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.

At around midnight Thursday, storms led emergency personnel to respond to Lake Wilson in Russell County, Kansas, where nearly 15 campers were overturned by winds reaching 70 mph, the Wilson Corps of Engineers said.

“I can imagine it was every bit of that or more," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilson Lake Interim Park Director Matt Beckman told USA TODAY, referring to the severe winds measured late Wednesday night. On Friday, the lakeside park still had "quite a bit of tree damage" and crews were working to repair electrical equipment, Beckman said.

“I do believe the gentleman was in his camper when it overturned," Beckman said.

The powerful winds knocked over campers, pushed trailers up against trees and slid camping equipment off campsites, Beckman said.

“It’s nothing we want to see happen, especially during a holiday weekend when the parks are full. We’re doing our best to clean it up," Beckman, 44, said.

Montoya's body was taken to a local mortuary and a scheduled autopsy will confirm the man's cause of death, the sheriff's office said.

Three others were transported to a local hospital with injuries, the sheriff's office said.

Storms, flood watches in the Midwest

Elsewhere in the Midwest, torrential rains this week led water levels to rise dramatically in Minnesota, risking the collapse of a 40-year-old bridge.

Blue Earth County Public Works Director Ryan Thilges said in a Tuesday news conference the county is "at the mercy of Mother Nature" as they're concerned about the County Road 9 Bridge partially or completely failing.

In a Facebook post on the same day, the county said contractors shored the western pier of the bridge with loose stone called riprap to avoid sediment rushing into the Blue Earth River.

A nearby home collapsed into the Blue Earth River last month and the homeowners were hoping their nearby business, the Rapidan Dam Store, could be saved.

But instead, county officials demolished the Hruska's Rapidan Dam Store late June after county employees said the store would get washed away due to already-occurring erosion, the county said in a June 28 Facebook post. 

In Kansas City, Missouri, the National Weather Service announced Friday that some agricultural levees have been overtopped and some floodwaters have nearly reached the bottoms of bridges.

Flood warnings have also been issued across Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri and Illinois, with many warnings centered around the Mississippi River, and the risk of floodwaters overflowing banks is set to continue through next week, the National Weather Service said.

The storms in the Midwest come as Texas braces for potential impacts from Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall in Mexico Friday. In the Lone State State, residents are preparing for the possibility of evacuations and potential power outages. The region, along with much of the West, has been baking in scorching temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Texas braces for Hurricane Beryl

Forecasts released this week showed portions of South Texas are within the cone of Hurricane Beryl, which could move over the region as early as the weekend.

"Today and Saturday will be our calm before the storm," the National Weather Service in Corpus Cristi wrote in an advisory on Friday.

The effects of the hurricane are expected to flare up on Friday evening, including a high risk of rip currents, the center said. By Saturday, the coast could see some minor flooding as some showers begin ahead of the hurricane's arrival.

Tens of thousands in Texas could suffer without air conditioning if the storm knocks out power amid extreme summer temperatures, which have topped out at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the weather service.

On Thursday, Hurricane Beryl ripped through Grand Cayman and other islands in the Caribbean, destroying buildings and killed at least 11 people.

Beryl tore through Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Friday morning, reaching maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Residents in cities like Corpus Christi and Kingsville are being told to brace for heavy rain, strong winds, flash flooding, isolated tornadoes and dangerous rip currents along the Gulf Coast.

Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY