Severe weather risk
- Tornado watches covered a swath from eastern Tennessee and North Carolina all the way into upstate New York. Severe thunderstorm watches cover the Southeast, including Georgia.
- The weather has been blamed for at least two deaths: those of a 28-year-old who was struck by lightning in Alabama and a 15-year-old who was struck by a tree in South Carolina.
- More than 900,000 homes and businesses were without power late Monday after storms battered much of the South and the East.
- Thousands of flights have been delayed and more than 1,000 have been canceled because of the weather.
Over a dozen rescues after floods in Cambridge, Maryland
There have been no injuries, but police in Cambridge, Maryland, said there have been over a dozen rescues after flooding in the city.
“Several streets have had to be closed,” Police Chief Justin Todd said. Cambridge is a city of around 13,000 in Dorchester County, southeast of Baltimore.
CORRECTION (Aug. 7, 2023): An earlier version of this post misstated the location of the rescues. They were in Cambridge, Maryland, not Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dozens of people, including children, stuck in cars after power poles come down in Maryland
Thirty-three adults and 14 children were trapped in their vehicles in Maryland today after severe weather downed power lines, a Maryland State Police official said.
"They’re currently safe," Maj. Daniel Pickett told reporters at a news conference at 10 p.m. in Westminster. There was also one dog, which is also unhurt, police said.
Everyone and the dog were safely removed and were taken to a high school and given meals, state police said.
They were trapped in their vehicles while the utility company de-energized lines after around 30 poles in Carroll County came down following severe weather that struck around 5 p.m., Pickett said.
The power lines struck 34 vehicles on Route 140. First responders gave people water as they waited for the lines to be de-energized, officials said.
More than 900,000 without power in East Coast, South
More than 940,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Monday night after storms struck a large part of the Southeast and the East Coast and were affecting the Northeast, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us.
North Carolina had 255,000 customers without power just before 10 p.m., according to the website, and 148,000 customers were without power in Georgia. Around 170,000 customers were without power in Pennsylvania.
15-year-old killed by falling tree in South Carolina
A tree fell and killed a teenager in Anderson, South Carolina, today in what the county coroner says was a weather-related death.
A "preliminarily investigation shows a large tree fell and struck” a 15-year-old boy, the coroner’s office said in a statement.
Anderson is the western part of the state.
New York City under severe storm watch until 1 a.m.
Emergency management officials warned New Yorkers to move to higher ground in case there is flash flooding, and the city remains under a severe thunderstorm watch until 1 a.m.
“Damaging winds will be the main threat,” the National Weather Service said in a hazardous weather outlook for the city. A brief tornado is also possible, it said.
The severe thunderstorm watch is scheduled to last until 1 a.m. Tuesday. New York City Emergency Management warned that winds could gust up to 70 mph.
Tornado watches end in some areas
The number of areas on the East Coast under tornado watches has dwindled, but severe thunderstorm watches still cover parts of the Southeast and the Northeast tonight.
The tornado watches covered parts of Virginia to New York state, affecting around 25 million people, according to the National Weather Service. Earlier, the number had been more than 33 million.
No tornadoes had been reported on the East Coast, according to a National Weather Service website logging such preliminary reports, although damaging high winds have been reported.
Alabama man killed by lightning strike
Lightning struck and killed a man at an industrial park in Florence, Alabama, today, police said in a statement.
The 28-year-old man was not publicly identified at the request of his family, police said.
There had been severe thunderstorm watches in Lauderdale County. The area has since been given the all-clear, according to the weather service in Huntsville.
Tower view shows storm moving into Philadelphia
Trees down on homes in Harford County, Maryland
Officials in Harford County, Maryland, which is northeast of Baltimore, posted images on social media of homes damaged by falling trees and warned people to call authorities to determine whether it is safe.
The county, as well as Baltimore, had been under a severe thunderstorm warning. Forecasters have warned of damaging winds across the mid-Atlantic states and in other regions, fueled by an eastern-moving front.
Storms in Philadelphia, Trenton areas have 70-mph gusts
Forecasters in the Philadelphia area said severe weather affecting the city, as well as parts of New Jersey, has wind gusts of 70 mph.
The National Weather Service warned of the winds in urging people to take the storms seriously.
A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for Philadelphia; Trenton, New Jersey; and Levittown and Pottstown in Pennsylvania until 7:30 p.m. Other parts of New Jersey were under thunderstorm warnings until 8 p.m.
Weather service: Widespread wind damage occurring with storms approaching Philadelphia
National Weather Service forecasters said “widespread wind damage is occurring” as storms approached Philadelphia.
“Take shelter,” the weather service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, which covers the region, said on social media.
Philadelphia officials, like in those in other cities, warned residents to be prepared. The Baltimore and Washington, D.C., weather service also issued warnings of damaging storms.
A "destructive severe thunderstorm warning" had been issued as the storm was over Prince William County, Virginia, this evening. Officials in Fairfax County said multiple roads were closed, and fire officials said they were responding to downed power lines.
Storms rip down power lines in Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee, utilities officials warned that it may be days before power is fully restored after storms ripped down electricity lines.
Around 40,000 customers were without power there after extensive damage.
There were also outages in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia today, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us, as severe storms have hit were expected to strike the East Coast and the Southeast. Over 144,000 Georgia customers were without power, according to the website.
More than 1,000 flights canceled
Airports from New York and Washington, D.C., to Georgia canceled more than 1,000 flights today, with Atlanta’s major airport topping the list of scrapped flights, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had 372 flights canceled, the website showed.
Arrivals and departures were also canceled at Reagan National near Washington; LaGuardia, JFK and Newark in the New York City region; and Philadelphia International, according to FlightAware.
Weather postpones Phillies home game; stadium hosting Pink on weather watch
The Philadelphia Phillies will not host the Washington Nationals tonight after the game was postponed because of weather, while in the Washington area, a venue scheduled to host musician Pink said it was watching developments.
The Phillies announced the postponed game will be made up at 4:05 p.m. Tuesday.
Earlier today, Nationals Park tweeted that it would be monitoring weather conditions. "Get The Party Started" singer Pink was scheduled to perform there tonight.
Over 150 wind reports from Southeast to Pennsylvania
There have been more than 150 wind reports in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic states, according to the National Weather Service.
There were 65-mph winds reported in Tennessee, trees and power lines were downed in West Virginia, and power poles were reported down in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, according to the weather service’s storm reports website.
Those are reports and are not considered confirmed, but some are made by trained spotters and other authorities. The data is preliminary, the agency cautions.
Strong front from Ohio Valley fueling East Coast weather
A strong front moving east is helping to fuel the thunderstorms and other severe weather, the National Weather Service said.
The severe weather threat was called “anomalously large across the Southeast, Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic this afternoon/evening,” it said.
“Damaging wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes are all possible across these areas Monday afternoon/evening with the greatest threat will likely be from damaging winds,” the weather service said.
Flight disruptions were expected in East Coast airports, as well as in Atlanta, according to the FAA.
States and cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast warn residents
New York City and the state, and Philadelphia and Washington D.C., were among those warning of high winds, possible flooding and power outages.
“I urge all New Yorkers to watch the weather forecast closely this week and prepare to act, if necessary, to protect yourself and others,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochu said today.
New York City emergency management officials warned residents of the risk of flash flooding and gave instructions “in the very low chance of a tornado.”
The New York City region could get 3 inches of rain through tonight, the weather service said.
Philadelphia officials, too, said there was a tornado watch and urged people to watch forecasts.
D.C.-area federal workers told to leave early amid weather threat
Federal workers in the Washington, D.C., area were told to leave work by 3 p.m. Monday because of the threat of severe weather, the Office of Personnel Management said.
33 million under tornado watches in East, thunderstorm watch for over 20 million in Southeast
Severe weather watches covered almost the entire East Coast from Georgia and the Carolinas to upstate New York, as forecasters warned of severe weather and travel disruptions.
Tornado watches covered more than 33 million people from North Carolina and part of Tennessee and into New York state, according to the weather service.
Severe thunderstorm watches covered the Southeast, including in Atlanta and Georgia. There were 23 milion people under thunderstorm watches across the U.S.
FAA: Flights will likely have to be paused at East Coast airports
The FAA Monday afternoon warned that flights will likely have to be paused at East Coast airports, as well as in Atlanta, because of severe weather.
“The FAA is re-routing aircraft around the storms heading to the East Coast as much as possible. Soon we will likely have to pause departures in and out of East Coast airports including NYC, Philly, DC, Charlotte and Atlanta,” the federal agency said on social media.