Storms kill 10 people across the US this weekend as flooding remains a big concern

A man was killed by a tree felled in the storms that moved through east Texas over the weekend, authorities said Sunday

Following a tornado that brought 100-mph winds, rescue crews arrived at a home Saturday and found Larry Hadnot Jr., 44, “trapped by a tree that had fallen across a home,” Nacogdoches County Judge Greg Sowell said in a statement.

A second person in the home suffered minor injuries, the judge said.

Hadnot’s death was the 10th blamed on weather in the US since Friday night: Two other people died in Texas, one in Oklahoma, three in Louisiana, and three in Alabama.

Widespread power outages

Nacogdoches County is one of many locales experiencing downed trees, storm damage, and power outages from the deadly system that hammered much of the eastern half of the country.

About 50 million people in the Northeast are under wind advisories, as gusts are predicted to reach 50 mph or higher in some areas.

Early Sunday, more than 145,000 homes were without power in eight states, according to poweroutage.us. More than half the homes were in New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The Buffalo Niagara International Airport was among the thousands of residents and businesses in western New York to lose power, according to New York State Electric and Gas spokesman Michael Jamison. About 12,000 customers were still without power Sunday afternoon, NYSEG said.

While most of the outages stem from the storms, it’s not clear why the airport lost power, Jamison said, but electricity was restored by mid-morning. With power down, the airport operated with backup generators, he said.

A handful of flights were delayed or canceled, according to flightaware.com.

Also dealing with thousands of power outages are Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Virginia and Arkansas, poweroutage.us reported.

Flood warnings across the South and Midwest

The worst effects from the storms that pounded the Midwest and eastern United States are mostly over, but Sunday could see lingering rain along the mid-Atlantic and localized severe risk along the coast in three states.

The eastern parts of Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia could endure more extreme weather, which could affect 1.6 million people, the National Weather Service said.

Sunday will bring flood warnings to Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

In Indiana, nearly 4 inches of rain has fallen in the western part of the state since late Thursday. Alabama, Georgia and areas near St. Louis, Missouri, experienced 4 or more inches of rain in 48 hours, forecasters say.

“Most river sites have rising water levels,” the National Weather Service said. “Heavy rainfall along the Ohio and Wabash rivers will cause water levels to rise to minor flood stage around mid-week.”

In the Pacific Northwest, winter storm warnings remain in effect for higher elevations, and heavy snow is forecast through Tuesday.

The avalanche danger will remain high into early next week, and the storm system will track into the northern Rockies on Monday, the National Weather Service said.

Record warmth in parts of the Northeast

While many areas along the East Coast were hammered by storms, other regions experienced unseasonably warm weather.

It was 71 degrees in Pittsburgh on Saturday, breaking the record of 68 degrees set in 1890. The city will see more warm weather Sunday, but temperatures are expected to drop to a high of 48 degrees.

Two other cities that set record highs Saturday were Blacksburg, Virginia, (67, breaking 59, set in 2005) and Poughkeepsie, New York (68, breaking 63, set in 1975).

The warm weather should spread across the southern Eastern Seaboard, while those in the Northeast should expect the mercury to inch closer to normal January temperatures.

Temperatures in the Midwest, however, will drop precipitously. Sunday temperatures in Buffalo and Columbus, Ohio, could plunge 30 degrees from Saturday’s highs, and Detroit and Cincinnati could see temperatures more than 20 degrees colder than Saturday.