Strong winds leave hundreds of thousands without power in Northeast
More than half a million homes and businesses had no electricity the eastern U.S. early Monday as a powerful storm brought dangerous winds to more than 60 million people in its path.
Some 538,000 customers had no power from Michigan to New York and down to Virginia.
Toppled trees and fallen branches took out power lines across the region Sunday and into Monday as winds gusted to 60 mph or higher
A gust of 74 mph - hurricane strength - was reported in Tucker County, West Virginia, Sunday night. A 61 mph gust was recorded at the Pittsburgh airport.
In Sandusky, Ohio, a motorist captured video of a tractor-trailer flipping over on a bridge. In New York City, sidewalk food carts rocked precariously in the gusts early Monday.
Wind advisories and warnings are in effect through Monday in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Gusts in the 50-60 mph were forecast for a nearly 1,000 mile area stretching from the Carolinas to New England
A blizzard warning was in effect in upstate New York.
A blizzard hammered parts of the Midwest over the weekend. At least 88 people had to be rescued from snowed- in cars in Minnesota. There were snow drifts as high as six feet in parts of that state.
Weekend storms raked parts of the Southeast, leaving deaths and injuries in their wake as a tornado smashed into a commercial district in a small Mississippi city and drenching rains fed a rising flood threat.
A woman was killed when a strong EF-3 tornado hit Columbus, Mississippi, and a man died when he drove into floodwaters in Tennessee, officials said.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith Sr. said 41-year-old Ashley Glynell Pounds of Tupelo and her husband were renovating a house Saturday evening and when the husband went to get them something to eat, the building collapsed in the storm and killed her.
It was one of three confirmed twisters in Mississippi
Smith said 12 other people were injured, but the injuries didn't appear to be major. City spokesman Joe Dillon said the tornado also seriously damaged a school and two community center buildings.
In Knox County, Tennessee, officials said a man died after his vehicle became submerged in high water.
Tennessee rivers continued to rise Monday morning. Up to 15 inches of rain fell in just under five days.
Elsewhere around the South, homes, highways, parks and bridges were flooded or put out of commission amid the heavy rains and severe storms.
In southern West Virginia, authorities evacuated 11 families after low-lying areas flooded from heavy rains.
In Bruce, Mississippi, rivers broke flood stage and flash floods poured into homes and businesses. News outlets said Grenada, Mississippi officials declared a local state of emergency after dozens of streets and homes flooded. A 6-mile stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway was closed in Mississippi after water covered part of the road.
Kentucky announced Friday it was closing the U.S. 51 bridge over the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, because of flooding on the southern approach. The bridge, which carries 4,700 vehicles a day, is likely to stay closed until Thursday, and possibly longer.
