The Florida Panhandle Hurricane, a tornado, and a state of emergency: State of the State, evacuation instructions, and warnings for Florida
At least three deaths in the South were attributed to the storm, where 55 mph winds and hail moved through the Florida Panhandle and into parts of Alabama and Georgia by sunrise Tuesday, along with at least several reports of radar-confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service said. There is a wind gust of 106 mph recorded before dawn near the coast in Florida.
The Houston County Coroner says that an 81-year-old woman was killed near Cottonwood, which is a small city in Alabama near the Georgia and Florida borders. There was a suspected tornado in the area.
Storm-related injuries were reported in Florida, but no deaths. A section of Panama City Beach showed parts of roofs blown away, furniture, fences and debris strewn about and a house that appeared tilted on side, leaning on another home.
In Panama City, about 10 miles away, police early Tuesday asked residents to stay indoors and off the roads “unless absolutely necessary” as officers checked on damage from the storms, including downed power lines and trees.
The National Weather Service office in Tallahassee is planning to send out three tornado survey teams on Wednesday and two more on Thursday. Three teams will visit Florida on Wednesday to assess tornado damage. The two teams on Thursday will assess damage in Houston County, Ala., and Calhoun County, Ga.
The department urged people to stay home, posting photos of a damaged apartment complex and marina. The Walton County sheriff’s department in the Florida Panhandle posted photos of power lines draped across a road, damage to a gas station and large pieces of building materials littering the area. Photographs showing damage to a campground and RV park in Marianna were posted about 70 miles northeast.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who gave his State of the State address Tuesday as tornado warnings were active outside the Capitol, issued an executive order to include 49 counties in North Florida under a state of emergency from tornadoes.
“This one is closed for the duration of the weather in Tallahassee because every government building except this one is shut down,” he said. “We just do what we do in Florida: We respond when these things happen … We will handle the aftermath of these dangerous tornadoes.
Heavy rain caused air traffic at Atlanta’s busy airport to stop for a period of time on Tuesday morning, as well as flooding on the freeways around Atlanta during the morning commute. More than 80 public school systems across Georgia called off classes entirely while others taught students online or delayed the start of in-person classes.
Snowfall and Snowplows in the Midwest after a Torsion-Scattered Mobile Home Park in Claremont, North Carolina
A suspected tornado that struck a mobile home park in the town of Claremont in North Carolina left one person dead and two others in critical condition. The county has also been dealing with downed trees and flooding.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency before the storm approached so weight and size restrictions on large and heavy trucks containing emergency supplies or agricultural goods would be waived. Some schools were canceled or shut down early.
In the Midwest where a snowstorm began Monday, up to 12 inches of snow is possible in a wide area from southeastern Colorado to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Bob Oravec, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, said that it included western Kansas, eastern Nebraska, large parts of Iowa, northern Missouri and northwestern Illinois.
Laura Burianov, a resident of Des moines, Iowa, was shoveling her driveway on Tuesday. She indicated she would have to shovel later in the day because of the snow still falling.
The street in Des Moines was still buried in snow after the plow did not come through. He had gotten rid of his driveway and sidewalk.
Poor road conditions contributed to a fatal crash early Tuesday in southeastern Wisconsin, Jefferson County Sheriff Paul Milbrath said in a news release. An SUV driver was killed following a head-on collision with a semitrailer on state Highway 18 around 5:40 a.m. The driver of the semitrailer was not hurt. The drivers were the lone occupants of the vehicles.
A sheriff’s captain The fog lines on the highway were covered in layers of slush and snow. The National Weather Service said light snow was falling at the time with winds gusting up to 26 mph.
In parts of Arizona, a cold front brought below-freezing temperatures early Tuesday, with the National Weather Service reporting a minus-17 reading at the Snow Bowl in northern Arizona. In northeastern New Mexico, the state Department of Transportation said snow plows spent hours Monday afternoon clearing U.S. Highway 56 to free more than 25 stranded vehicles.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declares a state of emergency in the U.S. Spawning storm spawns high winds in the South and snow in the Midwest
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy already declared a state of emergency as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, ahead of what’s expected to be heavy rain and wind that will exacerbate the effects of bad weather conditions since December.
In New York, city officials began evacuating nearly 2,000 migrants who had been housed at a sprawling white tent complex at a former airport located in a remote corner of Brooklyn. The wind speed on Tuesday night is predicted to be over 70 mph.
In western New York, an empty tractor trailer blew over on the state Thruway on Tuesday morning, temporarily blocking all westbound traffic, state police said. The state banned empty trucks and trailers on numerous major roadways.
In Massachusetts, electricity provider National Grid said they were prepared for possible hazardous wind gusts and heavy rains and have additional crews and personnel to respond to any power outages.
The press secretary for the White House said storms remained a threat across the country. She said that all Americans should keep an eye on the weather.
There is a chance of cold temperatures and snow in Iowa where precinct caucuses will take place on January 15.
It forced former President Donald Trump’s campaign to cancel multiple appearances by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had been scheduled to court Iowa voters on Trump’s behalf Monday.
State of the Art: Heavy Rains, Floods, and Floods in the South and Northeast from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast
In Nebraska, whiteout conditions closed a long stretch of I-80, while Kansas shut down I 70 to the Colorado border due to dangerous travel conditions. Several vehicles slid off I-70 in the northeastern part of the state, authorities said.
Several people died and tens of thousands of customers were left without power as violent storms wreaked havoc in the South and Northeast.
Heavy rains and strong winds made some roadways impassable and cut power to thousands of New Yorkers from the New York City metro area to Rochester and other residents in the western part of the state.
“This is a serious storm, New York,” Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted late Tuesday night. Utility crews will be restoring power as quickly and safely as possible.
Parts of the Mid-Atlantic and northern New Jersey got at most two inches of precipitation, while parts of northern New York received more than four inches of rain.
At least two tornadoes were reported in the state, and the area near Orangeburg had a maximum wind gust of 59 miles per hour. There was a tornado that left a main street littered with debris.
There was a flood watch in effect for Connecticut through the afternoon and several roads in Vermont were closed due to downed trees and power lines.
The National Weather Service said Wednesday morning that even though much of the rain was on its way out of the area, the threat of flooding would persist through early Thursday for parts of the Mid-Atlantic.
The NWS warns of more severe storms starting Friday for parts of the South through the Mid-Atlantic. A large, low-pressure system will develop in the Southern Plains by the end of the week.
The NWS said the initial set-up for this next event is similar to the current event that is concluding over the Eastern U.S.
The department of transportation in Iowa said that the recent winter storm had caused many car crashes and that more snow was on the way for some parts of the state.