CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A major storm drenched the Northeast and slammed it with fierce winds, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands following a bout of violent weather that struck most of the U.S.
The storm, which started Tuesday night and was moving out Wednesday, washed out roads and took down trees and power lines. Wind gusts reached 45 mph to 55 mph.
It followed a day of tornadoes and deadly accidents in the South and blizzards in the Midwest and Northwest.
In some parts of the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, more than two feet of snow fell.
Here’s how various areas are being affected by the storms:
MIDWEST
Slushy highways led to fatal collisions in Wisconsin and another in Michigan.
The storm, which began Monday, buried cities across the Midwest in snow, stranding people on highways. Some areas saw up to a foot of snow on Monday, including Kansas, eastern Nebraska and South Dakota, western Iowa, and southwestern Minnesota.
Madison, Wisconsin, was under a winter storm warning until early Wednesday, with as much as 9 inches of snow and 40 mph winds on tap.
The weather has already affected campaigning for Iowa’s Jan. 15 precinct caucuses, where the snow is expected to be followed by frigid temperatures that could drift below zero degrees.
Forecasters warned snow-struck regions of the Midwest and the Great Plains that temperatures could plunge dangerously low because of wind chill, dipping to around minus 20 and even far lower in Chicago, Kansas City and some areas of Montana.
SOUTH
Several deaths have been blamed on storms that struck the area with heavy rain, tornado reports, hail and wind. Survey teams were heading out Wednesday in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to determine whether tornados struck, National Weather Service officials said.
An 81-year-old woman in Alabama was killed when her mobile home was tossed from its foundation by a suspected tornado. A man died south of Atlanta when a tree fell on his car. Another person died in North Carolina after a suspected tornado struck a mobile home park.
Roofs were blown off homes, furniture, fences and debris were strewn about during the height of the storm in the South.
Many areas of Florida remained under flood watches, warnings and advisories early Wednesday amid concerns that streams and rivers were topping their banks.
