US weather: Huge hail stones, tornadoes and funnel clouds strike Midwest

More than 100,000 homes and businesses left without power

Huge hail stones, flash flooding, tornadoes and formations of bizarre funnel clouds are among a series of extreme weather events to hit parts of the US.

The states of Ohio and Indiana suffered severe storms, although further south Louisiana and Texas were also at risk.

More than 100,000 homes and business were left powerless overnight, The Weather Channel reported, although no deaths were recorded.

A tornado tore through Clark County, about 40 miles west of the Ohian city of Columbus, according to the National Weather Service, while another was seen 25 miles away in the town of Xenia.

One Twitter user shared footage of hail pounding a road in Franklin County, and a menacing funnel cloud descending on drivers.

There were at least 50 incidents of roads being flooded across the state, according to its Department of Transportation.

In Indiana, flooding washed away part of a road in Union County and flood warnings were issued after thunderstorms dumped an initial three inches of rain on areas in the east of the state.

Twisters were also spotted in Illinois, with a number of homes damaged and at least three destroyed.

At least a dozen people, including elderly and children, were evacuated by boat after a two-hour deluge in Mattoon, Illinois caused the Kickapoo Creek to swell.

Powerful winds brought down a hangar at an airport in Houston on Wednesday morning, ABC13 reported. There were no casualties, but eight planes were damaged.