Midwest Pelted With Rain, Wind, Hail, Tornadoes A massive line of storms packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds rolled through the Midwest Wednesday evening driving people into basements for shelter, tearing down power lines and causing flooding in low-lying areas. Forecasters predicted that by the time the storms were done, they could affect more than one in five Americans from Iowa to Maryland. In the small town of Belmond, Iowa, about 90 miles north of Des Moines, Duwayne Abel, owner of Cattleman's Steaks & Provisions restaurant, said a tornado swept through his business' parking lot and demolished part of the building. "I was, oh, eight miles west of town and I looked toward town and I could see a funnel cloud, having no idea it was exactly where our restaurant was," Abel said. Other small tornadoes were also reported in other parts of Iowa and in Illinois. Shane Jacobs In addition to tornadoes, lightning and large hail, meteorologists warned about the possibility of a weather event called a derecho (deh-RAY'-choh), which is a storm of strong straight-line winds spanning at least 240 miles. By late Wednesday, a derecho hadn't developed, but conditions were still ripe for one, with more storms expected overnight, said Greg Carbin of the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. But, he added, "with each hour that goes by, it's less likely." Tornadoes and a derecho can happen at the same time. The Metra commuter rail system temporarily halted all inbound and outbound trains, and Northwestern University canceled classes and finals at its campuses in Chicago and suburban Evanston. In Indiana, the warnings prompted the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. to increase staff at its customer call center and to schedule extra work crews for any power outages. Golf-ball sized hail damaged some cars.