600,000 Powerless in 13 States After Deadly Storms
After powerful storms and tornadoes over the weekend killed at least 18 people, over 600,000 customers in 13 states from Texas to Pennsylvania lost power early Monday morning.
The tracking site poweroutage.us reported more than 200,000 outages in Kentucky at 2 a.m., and 300,000 in Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and West Virginia.
As thunderstorms continued overnight, the National Weather Service issued tornado watches to over 12 million people in the Southeast and Midwest.
As the storm system moves from the Ohio Valley into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast later on Memorial Day, the Weather Service forecasts more heavy rain and thunderstorms.
The latest storm to hit the region in recent days. A powerful tornado in Iowa last week killed five and destroyed part of a city.
Kelsey Angle, a Springfield National Weather Service meteorologist, said baseball-sized hail and tornadoes in Howell County, Mo., on Sunday downed trees and damaged homes near Mountain View.
The storms forming over Missouri were expected to shift east overnight and bring strong winds to Kentucky and Tennessee.
The damaging winds will hit Kentucky and Tennessee, said Bill Bunting, a Weather Service Storm Prediction Center meteorologist in Norman, Oklahoma. He predicted three-inch hail and tornadoes.
Governor Beshear of Kentucky reported power lines down and tornadoes and wind damage. One death was reported statewide Sunday afternoon, but no injuries.
"We have gotten through at least the first part of this event," Mr. Beshear said from a command center. "And we want to avoid losing anyone else."
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