WASHINGTON (AP) - At least four people have died and over half a million homes are without power after a series of powerful winter storms swept through parts of the eastern U.S. and Canada.
Strong winds flipped cars and knocked over homes in Florida, where several tornadoes were reported.
More than 1,300 flights in or out of the U.S. were cancelled on Tuesday, according to data from FlightAware.
As of Tuesday evening, more than 630,000 households in the eastern U.S., from Florida to New York State were without electricity.
Gov Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 49 Florida counties, where storms have blown roofs off homes and knocked down power lines.
Twelve tornadoes were reported across Florida, Alabama and Georgia by early Tuesday, causing significant damage and, in some areas, prompting search and rescue operations.
More than 22 million people were under tornado watches.
In Houston County, Alabama, an 81-year-old woman was reportedly killed after a tornado ripped through the area, destroying mobile homes and RVs.
One person was killed and two others were critically injured in Claremont, North Carolina, officials said, after a powerful storm moved through a mobile home park.
A motorist died in Clayton County, Georgia, officials said, after a tree fell across a highway and crushed the driver’s car.
And one man was also crushed to death by a toppled tree in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday morning, the local station WVTM reported, citing local officials.
A resident of Panama City, Florida, who lives across from a home that was toppled by the wind said it sounded like a “freight train hitting a brick wall”.
A powerful rare blizzard in the Pacific Northwest region toppled trees and knocked out electricity for over 25,000 customers in Washington state, according to Poweroutages.us, as well as for thousands more people further north in Canada’s British Columbia province. Snow and high winds closed mountain passages, shut down ferries and triggered avalanche warnings
In New Jersey, a coastal flood advisory is in effect until Wednesday. The state’s governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and warned residents not to “underestimate” the storm.
In New York State, Governor Kathy Hochul warned the storm could be “life threatening”, especially as the expected rainfall would combine with the snow already blanketing the ground, bringing about potential flash-flooding.
Around 2,000 migrants living in a city tent shelter on an airfield in Brooklyn were evacuated by authorities to high school gymnasiums until the storms pass.
A ground stop was briefly issued at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport - one of the country’s busiest - due to excessive snow and ice, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. A stop was also issued for Florida’s Tampa International Airport due to a tornado warning.
Severe weather has also disrupted road travel in states like Nebraska and Kansas, where state patrol has responded to hundreds of weather-related incidents.
Flood warnings issued by the NWS remained in effect on Wednesday morning from Louisiana to Maine, encompassing at least 15 states along the U.S. Atlantic coast.