Storms target East Coast after leaving 2 dead Sunday

CNN

31-03-2025

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A dangerous, wide-reaching storm will affect the eastern seaboard after touching off several tornadoes, dropping baseball-sized hail and killing at least two people in the central US this weekend.
A semi-truck driver was killed in Valparaiso, Indiana, early Sunday when powerful winds blew his vehicle over, according to CNN affiliate WLS. Winds in the area gusted to 80 mph at the time.
In Oklahoma's Cherokee County early Sunday, a thunderstorm knocked a tree onto a couple's trailer next to the Illinois River, killing a man inside, officials told CNN affiliate KJRH. Gusts in the area neared 50 mph, according to KJRH.
These thunderstorms were ongoing Monday morning in parts of the South and will once again put tens of millions of people in harm's way as they track east through the day.
More than 400,000 homes and businesses were without power Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
A majority of the outages were in Michigan, where severe thunderstorms slammed the southern half of the state and ice brought down power lines in the north Sunday. Outages were also climbing in Louisiana and Mississippi.
At least one confirmed tornado occurred in seven states – Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Michigan – Sunday as severe thunderstorms stretched over hundreds of miles of the US.
A possible tornado caused damage in McEwen, Tennessee, a town about 50 miles west of Nashville, according to CNN affiliate WSMV. The roof was torn off at least one home in the McEwen area. The homeowners were trapped inside but were not injured, the county sheriff told WSMV.
March has already delivered an extraordinary number of tornado reports, surpassing the number from the same time last year. Some of the same regions struck by deadly storms earlier this month once again found themselves in harm's way Sunday, including northeastern Arkansas.
The storms also dumped damaging hail, some up to the size of baseballs, with more than 200 hail reports submitted to the Storm Prediction Center Sunday.
Photos from the Oklahoma City area sent to CNN affiliate KOCO late Saturday showed hailstones ranging from about the size of a quarter to a golf ball, many of them spiked.
Powerful winds also brought down trees and power lines. Many of the most intense storms struck after nightfall, elevating the danger.
Storm damage can be incredibly difficult to spot in the dark, as one driver in Louisville, Kentucky, learned Sunday night, when they collided with a tree that had fallen across a road. The driver was checked by emergency services.
Heavy rain also deluged some areas, leading to dangerous flash flooding.
Flash flood emergencies – the highest level of flash flood warning – were issued Sunday afternoon in southern Mississippi after more than 6 inches of rain fell in a very short period. Additional flash flooding is likely Monday, especially across the South.
In the Midwest, Michigan felt the wide-reaching storm's warm, severe thunderstorm side as well as its cold, icy side.
Up to half an inch of ice accumulated on power lines and trees in northern Michigan. The snow and ice ended in the state early Monday morning.
To the south in the state's Kalamazoo County, officials were juggling more than 130 reports of storm damage 'and rapidly counting,' the sheriff's office said on Facebook late Sunday. More trees weakened by the high winds and drenched soil are likely to fall, the sheriff warned, urging residents to treat any downed wires as live and dangerous.
Southern Michigan also had two confirmed tornadoes Sunday.
Damaging thunderstorms were roaring through parts of the Southeast Monday morning and will get stronger and more expansive as they track east throughout the day.
A level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms is in place from Mississippi through the Carolinas Monday and includes Mobile, Alabama, Atlanta and Raleigh, North Carolina, according to the SPC.
Storms in this area could unleash widespread damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes. These storms could produce flooding as some of them will train – or move across the same areas – repeatedly.
Severe thunderstorms will fire up farther north by the afternoon and evening and span nearly the entire East Coast. Cities from New Orleans to New York City fall within the affected zone, though the specific threats will vary.
The Northeast's primary threat will be damaging wind gusts and hail but tornadoes cannot be ruled out.
The storms are expected to linger overnight from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast before moving into the Atlantic Ocean by Tuesday.
This year has already seen numerous tornadoes, with approximately 300 tornado reports logged since January—nearly double the 164 reported by this time last year.
Last year, tornado activity surged in late spring and persisted through December, resulting in nearly 2,000 tornado reports. It was the second-most tornado reports in a single year in the past 15 years, surpassed only by 2017.
This spring's procession of severe storm systems looks likely to continue.
Forecasters are monitoring a large area from Texas to the Midwest for another potential round of thunderstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Residents across all affected regions are urged to stay informed and have multiple ways to receive weather alerts, especially in areas at risk for nighttime storms.