A large storm system in the United States took aim at the country’s north-east on Friday, threatening heavy snow and coastal flooding after heavy winds and possible tornadoes left 10 dead and damaged homes and buildings across the south and midwest.
Key points:
- Several people were killed by falling trees as storms swept through the United States
- Over 1 million people were left without power
- In California, as much as three metres of snow fell, leaving people stranded in their homes
Three people were killed by falling trees in Alabama, as severe weather swept through the state.
In Mississippi, a woman died inside her SUV after a rotted tree branch struck her vehicle, and in Arkansas a man drowned after he drove into high floodwaters.
News outlets reported two people died in Tennessee when trees fell on them.
Three weather-related deaths in three different counties were also reported in Kentucky, as storms with straight-line winds moved through the state.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear had declared a state of emergency before the storm, and on Friday evening the mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg, followed suit because of the high winds, widespread damage and danger to lives and property.
“I encourage everyone in our community to exercise extreme caution this evening, and in the coming days – do not drive through standing water, do not approach downed power lines, or do anything that would put the lives of anyone at risk,” Mr Greenberg said.
The National Weather Service in Louisville called Friday’s storms “powerful and historic”, with peak wind gusts between 96 and 128kph.
More than 1 million utility customers in Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan were left without power on Friday evening, according to poweroutage.us.
It wasn’t the same story in California, where the weather system slammed the state earlier in the week with as much as three metres of snow.
Some residents in mountains east of Los Angeles will likely remain stranded in their homes for at least another week, after the snowfall proved too much to handle for most ploughs.
In Talledega County, Alabama, a 70-year-old man sitting in his truck was killed when a tree fell onto his vehicle.
A 43-year-old man in Lauderdale County and a man in Huntsville were also killed by falling trees on Friday, local authorities said.
In Texas, winds brought down trees, ripped the roof off a supermarket, and overturned four 18-wheeler trucks. Minor injuries were reported, police said.
Winds of nearly 130kph were recorded near the Fort Worth suburb of Blue Mound, while the roof of an apartment building in the suburb of Hurst was blown away, resident Michael Roberts told KDFW-TV.
“The whole building started shaking. … The whole ceiling is gone,” Roberts said. “It got really crazy.”
In the state of Arkansas, Betty Andrews told KSLA-TV that she and her husband took shelter in the bathroom of their mobile home while a tornado moved through.
“It was very scary. I opened the front door to look out and saw it coming. I grabbed Kevin and went and got into the bathtub,” Ms Andrews said. “We hunkered down, and I said some prayers until it passed.”
They emerged uninjured, but their home sustained major damage and the couple was temporarily trapped in the bathroom until a neighbour cleared debris from outside the door.
AP