[ad_1]
Millions of people in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina were under a hurricane watch, and thousands were without power Wednesday morning, after large hailstorms and strong winds swept through the Ohio Valley and moved east on Tuesday.
Early Wednesday, more than 200,000 customers were without power in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia, according to data. Power outages.us, a website that tracks power outages. The majority were in West Virginia, where more than 100,000 people were reported to be without power.
A National Weather Service hurricane watch was in effect until 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday and included Tallahassee, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia. The hurricane watch did not include Atlanta, but the area was under a flash flood warning due to thunderstorms. Meteorologists said there was heavy rain. A tornado warning was in effect for parts of Georgia early Wednesday as well. (A tornado watch means tornadoes are possible in the area, and a warning is issued when they are imminent.)
On Tuesday evening, there were reports of tornadoes in Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky, according to Reuters. National Weather Service. The Tulsa Police Department said there was one death related to the storm in Oklahoma, but did not provide further details.
A tornado in Conyers, Georgia, downed several trees and power lines early Wednesday, said Dan Morgan, director of the Rockdale County Emergency Management Agency. Radar confirmed the tornado touched down in an Atlanta suburb shortly after midnight, said Nicole Leistema, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office that serves Atlanta.
The severe weather was part of a powerful storm system moving east after hitting parts of Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas on Monday.
As of 5 a.m. EST Wednesday morning, nearly 2.5 million people remained Under a hurricane watchaccording to the National Meteorological Directorate.
The same storm will likely produce snow and winds in the Northeast through Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service said heavy snow will fall on parts of the central Appalachians on Thursday.
Kentucky this week A state of emergency was declared.
“We have reports of significant damage to a number of buildings — and fortunately, to date, we are not aware of any deaths,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement.
Meteorological officials Encourage people Living in areas where tornado watches have escalated to tornado warnings to move to a safe place, such as a basement or interior room in the basement of a sturdy building.
On Monday, forecasters also faced an outage that affected a key part of the country's weather tracking system, which could make it difficult for them to warn people about severe weather. Service was back to normal by 6:30 a.m. EST Tuesday.
Forecasters expect the storm system to move into New England on Wednesday and Thursday. More than 6 million people were under a Winter storm warning Wednesday morning, many of them in New England. Boston Maybe he will face Heavy rain, flooding rivers, wet snow and strong winds on Wednesday and Thursday. Meteorologists said the threat of severe thunderstorms and heavy rain ends on Thursday.
John Yoon And Claire Moses Contributed to reports.
[ad_2]
Source