Jan. 10 (UPI) — Emergency crews surveyed the damage a day after a vicious winter storm left a trail of destruction in several states, leaving at least three people dead.
Tuesday’s storm system, which brought devastating tornadoes and blustering winds to a wide swath of the Southeast, impacted more than 30 states overall with blizzard conditions, heavy rain and frightening wind gusts.
Major damage was reported across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina after extreme weather flattened homes and RVs, blew roofs off buildings, snapped trees like twigs, and knocked out power to many regions.
The three weather-related deaths occurred in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
In Cottonwood, Ala., an 81-year-old woman was killed after a tornado reportedly picked up her mobile home and flipped it several times; in Clayton County, Ga., a man was killed after a tree fell on his car; and in Claremont, N.C., a person died after a likely tornado damaged a mobile home park, police said.
No deaths were reported in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, after at least three tornadoes were confirmed in the state’s Panhandle, with wind gusts as high as 106 mph, according to reports.
Several injuries were reported, including a couple who survived a tree that fell on their home in Myrtle Grove in Escambia County.
Major storm damage was reportedly found from Okaloosa County to Live Oak, however, some impacts were reported as far away as Jacksonville.
Rural Jackson County, which is about 62 miles northwest of Tallahassee, was one of the hardest hit areas, with nearly 4,000 residents without power; and Bay County, which encompasses Panama City, where more than 2,409 power outages were reported early Wednesday.
Power outages were reported throughout the region, as a little more than 13,000 residents were down in Florida; 12,777 were down in South Carolina; while 53,833 were without power in North Carolina; and 27,947 in Virginia.
Other states along the Eastern Seaboard were also affected, including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maine, where more than 250,000 utility customers were without power Wednesday amid 50 mph winds.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service deployed assessment teams to determine whether strong winds or a string of tornadoes had caused massive damage in 49 counties across Florida.
Many locations were still inaccessible due to massive debris fields that blocked local roads.
A tornado was blamed for heavily damaging the Lower Grand Lagoon area near Panama City, which might have been the same twister that touched down in the Marianna area moments earlier, gashing homes in Spring Chase and mangling a newly renovated RV resort at Merritt’s Mill Pond, according to reports.
A line of severe storms and intense weather delivered heavy impacts just west of Tallahassee, resulting in widespread closures of schools, public spaces, and government offices.
Officials in several other states also issued flood warnings and wind advisories as extreme winds and precipitation persisted.
Tornado watches remained in effect from Florida to Virginia, while extreme weather was expected to linger into the coming days, bringing wind, rain and snow to many parts of the Northeast, Midwest and Great Lakes region.
Meteorologists said to prepare for frigid temperatures as a blast of Arctic air hits the Central United States this coming weekend, with some areas facing below freezing temperatures. Making matters worse, a potential “bomb cyclone” may follow, which would bring blizzard-like conditions all along the East Coast.
