Dad electrocuted to death immediately after escaping horror car crash

A 27-year-old dad died after his car hit downed power lines and burst into flames.

Nathan Merritt, from Hendricks County in, had been sheltering at a Walmart store with his three-year-old son Tatum and the boy’s mum during extreme and was killed on his way home at around 9.30pm on Wednesday.

Emergency services rushed to the scene after his Dodge pick-up was found on fire with an unconscious person nearby. Due to the live power lines, officers had to wait until the electricity had been turned off in the area before they could approach the driver who was later identified as Mr Merritt of Danville.

An investigation launched by police showed that the vehicle had hit the downed power lines and it was when Mr Merritt got out of the car that he came into contact with the live power cables.

His son and the boy’s mum had gone home separately from the Walmart store and they were unharmed. Mr Merritt was a sound and production director for Warrior Pro Wrestling and the company shared a tribute where it spoke of his “smile, excitement and dedication”.

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The message read: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we make this post this morning. Nathan Merritt, the sound and production director of WPW passed away after a tragic accident during last night’s storms. Our WPW family will miss his smile, excitement, and dedication to not just our show but to independent wrestling across the state. Prayers are with his son Tatum and the entire Merritt family.”

Torrential rains and flash flooding have continued to batter parts of the Midwest and South of the United States on Friday, killing a nine-year-old boy, Gabriel Andrews, in Kentucky who was swept away as he walked to catch his school bus.

Many communities are reeling from the tornadoes that destroyed entire neighbourhoods and killed at least seven people including Mr Merritt earlier in the week.

The downtown area of Hopkinsville, Kentucky — a city of 31,000 residents 72 miles northwest of Nashville — was submerged. A dozen people and more than 40 pets had been rescued from homes as of the afternoon, a fire official said.

“The main arteries through Hopkinsville are probably 2 feet under water,” said Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam. “So the mayor has closed downtown down for all traffic. Our office is actually in the middle of it, and we were here before the water rose. So there’s only one way we could get out.”

Forecasters are warning of potentially catastrophic weather, with round after round of heavy rains expected in the central US through Saturday. Satellite imagery showed thunderstorms lined up like freight trains over communities in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, according to the national Weather Prediction Centre in Maryland.