Storms roll east after slamming the South

A large storm system took aim at the Northeast on Friday, threatening heavy snow and coastal flooding after heavy winds and possible tornadoes damaged homes and buildings, left thousands without power and caused 10 deaths in a wide swath of the South and Midwest.

Three people were killed by falling trees in Alabama as severe weather swept through the state. In Mississippi, a woman died inside her SUV after a rotted tree branch struck her vehicle, and in Arkansas a man drowned after he drove into high floodwaters. News outlets reported two people died in Tennessee when trees fell on them.

Three weather-related deaths also were reported in Kentucky in three different counties as storms with straight-line winds moved through the state. Gov. Andy Beshear had declared a state of emergency before the storm and on Friday evening the mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg, followed suit because of the severe storms, high winds, widespread damage and danger to lives and property.

The National Weather Service in Louisville called the storm Friday “powerful and historic” with peak wind gusts of 79 miles per hour.

More than a million utility customers in Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan were without power Friday evening, according to poweroutage.us.

Many residents of Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas emerged Friday to find their homes and businesses damaged and trees toppled by the reported tornadoes. Tens of thousands were without power and some were also without water.

In Alabama, a 70-year-old man sitting in his truck in Talledega County was killed when a tree fell onto his vehicle. A 43-year-old man in Lauderdale County and a man in Huntsville also were killed by falling trees Friday, local authorities said.

In Texas, winds brought down trees, ripped the roof off a grocery store in Little Elm, north of Dallas, and overturned four 18-wheelers along. Minor injuries were reported, police said.



The Mississippi Capitol dome serves as a backdrop as city of Jackson, Miss., employees clear a tree fallen from the property surrounding the governor's mansion Friday, March 3, 2023. Toppled due to heavy wind as severe weather passed through the state Friday, the tree blocked Congress Street and broke a window in a building across from the mansion. High winds left thousands of Mississippians without power. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)