More than 300,000 homes and businesses in the eastern United States were without power Tuesday after powerful thunderstorms battered the region, killing at least two people and cancelling thousands of flights.
In South Carolina, where more than 12,000 customers remained without power Tuesday morning, a 15-year-old boy was killed after a tree fell on him as he got out of a car, according to the Anderson County Office of the Coroner. In Florence, Alabama, police said a 28-year-old man died after he was struck by lightning, WAAY-TV reported.
More than 1,700 U.S. flights were canceled and nearly 9,000 were delayed Monday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
The storms toppled trees, sent power lines crashing into roads and some homes and ripped roofs from buildings, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service.
“We saw the clouds coming and could hear a rumbling in the distance,” Don Tomovich, whose home was damaged, told 6ABC-TV in Philadelphia. “We went into the house and we were on the first floor, and before we could blink an eye the winds just came right through the back of our house.”
There were numerous reports of golf ball-sized hail in Virginia and a flash flood warning was issued into Tuesday after 4 inches of rain fell in a short amount of time in Maryland, according to the National Weather Service. The Knoxville Utilities Board said on X, formerly Twitter, the damage across its service area in Tennessee was “widespread and extensive” and will likely take several days to repair.
More than 29.5 million people were under tornado watches Monday afternoon, according to the weather service, and more than 1.1 million customers lost power as the storms struck. At least one tornado was confirmed Monday evening in McGraw, about 30 miles south of Syracuse, New York, the New York Times reported.
“This does look to be one of the most impactful severe weather events across the mid-Atlantic that we have had in some time,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Strong said briefing livestreamed on Facebook.
Storms could continue this week
Flash flooding was expected in portions of northern New England on Tuesday, according to the weather service. The turbulent weather could plague much of the East for the rest of the week, forecasters said.
“The pattern this week will feature frequent showers and thunderstorms, typically every other day or so, across much of the East,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. “Even though it may not rain as much or as often as it did in July, conditions may again pose daily challenges for outdoor plans and travel.”
Heat still plagues the South
Though forecasters said the storms will likely keep intense heat at bay in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, “dangerously hot daytime temperatures” were expected across the South Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The record highs would persist from the Desert Southwest into Texas and extend eastward along the Gulf Coast into parts of the Southeast and Florida, the weather service said.
Highs could hit the upper 90s to the lower 100s with a heat index − what the temperature feels like when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature − of 105 to 115 degrees in those areas, according to the weather service. The hot temperatures, dry ground conditions, low humidity, and gusty winds would elevate the wildfire risk in the Four Corners states into Texas, the weather service said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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