Deadly winter storm to unleash more snow, wind and rain in Northeast as power outages spread

CNN
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An expansive storm packing nearly every winter weather threat is set to dump more snow and rain on the Northeast Wednesday after battering a large swath of the Eastern US, knocking out power across several states and leading to multiple rescues. Here’s the latest:

• Widespread power outages amid freezing temperatures: There were more than 450,000 homes and businesses without power in the US Wednesday morning, including nearly 150,000 in New York and about 115,000 in Pennsylvania, according to poweroutage.us.  New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was concerned about residents not having power Tuesday night amid freezing temperatures.

• Storm turns deadly: At least four deaths have been reported across Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina as storms walloped the states with fierce winds and rain.

• More snow on the way: The snowfall will begin to let up in the Midwest and Great Lakes Wednesday, but the threat remains for parts of the interior Northeast and New England. Blizzard conditions are also expected to continue through Wednesday morning in the Northwest, bringing snow totals to several feet in the higher elevations. “Snow levels will fall to 1000-2000 feet on Wednesday, leading to considerable travel impacts for many mountain passes,” the National Weather Service warned.

• Fierce winds continue: Over 100 million people are under wind alerts from the Mississippi to the Southeast and up the East Coast. “Strong winds with gusts in excess of 55 mph are likely to cause numerous power outages and moderate to major coastal flooding in the Mid-Atlantic and New England,” the weather service said.

• Heavy downpours fuel flood fears: Widespread heavy rainfall will likely lead to significant river and flash flooding from the western Carolinas to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with “numerous” flash floods possible from Virginia through southern New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, the National Weather Service said. Multiple rivers were already at major flood stage along the Eastern US early Wednesday, including in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to the weather service. In Maryland, city officials in Annapolis, the state’s capital, were expecting floodwaters to reach a “historic” 5 feet, authorities said Tuesday.

• Rain in major cities: Several major metropolitan areas along the East Coast could see flooding, including New York City and Philadelphia where rainfall of 2 to 4 inches is possible.

• Dangerous driving conditions: Drivers in parts of New England and the interior Northeast could have a difficult time on the roads, with up to a foot of snow and 55 mph wind gusts possible through Wednesday afternoon. In Iowa, a section of Interstate 80 had to be closed down Tuesday afternoon due to whiteout conditions that led to a multi-vehicle crash. In Kansas, around 30 people, including children, got stranded and had to be rescued from vehicles and taken to a high school during blizzard and whiteout conditions Monday.

• Tornado reports and damage left behind: The storm has generated 23 tornado reports across Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina since Monday. In South Carolina, “significant damage” from a potential tornado was reported in the city of Bamberg, 60 miles south of Columbia, where the century-old City Hall building collapsed, according to city clerk-treasurer Robin Chavis.

• Flights canceled: More than 1,350 flights were canceled and more than 8,700 flights were delayed on Tuesday, according to data from FlightAware. Some of those are due to the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9, but thunderstorms caused significant disruptions in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Florida and North Carolina airports.

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Northeast bracing for heavy snow, rain and winds

Heavy, wet snow will sweep across high terrain in the Northeast into Wednesday morning before gradually calming throughout the day.

“This snow will cling to trees and power lines, which when combined with gust winds potentially exceeding 55 mph, could result in power outages and scattered tree damage,” the National Weather Service said.

While conditions are expected to gradually improve as the system moves out Wednesday, rain and strong winds will linger into the afternoon in the Northeast, the weather service said.

New York Gov. Hochul said the storm could be “life threatening” and that she was particularly concerned about people going through freezing temperatures without power as outages persist.

“We don’t have the time for the restoration because they can’t get the bucket trucks up there when the winds are still so high,” Hochul said during an interview on CNN affiliate Spectrum News NY1.

Hochul said the number of people without power in the state will “get quite a bit higher during the night.”

Possible flooding, especially in the Hudson Valley, is another major concern, Hochul said.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy – who announced a state of emergency for New Jersey in preparation for the potentially dangerous weather – urged residents to be vigilant.

“Don’t underestimate this storm; this could be a tough one for us,” he said.

The system will dissipate by the week’s end, but relief is still not in sight for many across the eastern US. Another storm could follow on Friday and into the weekend, impacting many of the same areas.

As storms swept through the Southeast with dangerous winds and saturated the ground with rain, authorities reported several deaths across Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina.

A driver was found dead on a highway in Jonesboro, Georgia, Tuesday morning after a tree fell and crushed a vehicle’s front windshield during severe weather. The Clayton County Police Department told CNN the weather appears to be a factor in the death.

Another person died Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama, after a tree fell on a vehicle, according to Birmingham Fire and Rescue Captain Orlando Reynolds.

Rescue crews found the person dead in the car with the tree still on top of it Tuesday morning. The area had received over 2 inches of rain saturating the ground and had winds gusting over 30 mph on Tuesday.

Over 210 miles away in Cottonwood, Alabama, an 81-year-old woman was killed during Tuesday’s storm, according to Houston County Commission Chairman Brandon Shoupe.

The woman was found dead after her mobile home was flipped multiple times, Shoupe said. Several buildings were damaged throughout the town and recovery efforts could last “many, many weeks,” Shoupe said.

In North Carolina, one person was killed and two more were critically injured in a mobile home community in Claremont, about 45 miles northwest of Charlotte, according to Amy McCauley, communications director for Catawba County.

The National Weather Service is currently evaluating if it was a tornado that hit the community, McCauley said.