WASHINGTON – Cleanup efforts are underway after a severe weather outbreak left at least two people dead and knocked out power to more than 1 million customers across the eastern U.S. on Monday.
The threat began early Monday morning as storms erupted in the Ohio Valley and began their trek to the East Coast, with millions of people placed under Tornado Watches and Severe Thunderstorm Watches as powerful thunderstorms brought flooding rain, hurricane-force wind gusts, large hail and reports of tornadoes well into the evening hours.
After the storms barreled through the region, emergency and utility crews fanned out and began to assess the damage and injury reported. As of Tuesday, power outage numbers dropped to around 350,000.
At least two people are confirmed dead after the destructive thunderstorms raced across the eastern U.S. on Monday.
In Alabama, the Florence Police Department confirmed that a 28-year-old man was struck by lightning in a parking lot at the Florence Industrial Park on Kendall Drive and died.
At least one other person was struck by lightning in Vale, North Carolina, and several people were injured after strong winds downed trees in New York and Maryland.
And a teenager in South Carolina was killed after he was hit by a tree that was brought down during the severe weather.
According to the Anderson County Office of the Coroner, Evan Christopher Kinley, 15, arrived at his grandparent’s home during the height of the severe weather and was standing in their garage when a large tree was uprooted and fell.
The tree then hit Kinley, the garage and a fence on the property.
Flooding was reported across the eastern U.S. on Monday as severe thunderstorms dropped copious amounts of rain in a short period of time.
In West Virginia, water covered the roads in several communities, including Morgantown. In Parkersburg, a video shared on Facebook shows vehicles trying to drive over flooded roads.
Videos also show heavy downpours reducing visibility on Interstate 70 near Hagerstown, Maryland.
In addition, the powerful storms brought down utility poles on Route 140 in Westminster, trapping 34 vehicles. Maryland State Police said no injuries were reported.
Several Tornado Warnings were issued across the eastern U.S., and videos show funnel clouds spinning in Tennessee and New York State.
Video from Greenville, Tennessee, shows a spinning funnel cloud there, and another video shows a possible tornado in Harford, New York.
The position of the spinning funnel cloud did match the radar signature that indicated a tornado, but the National Weather Service will make that final determination.
There were also numerous reports of large hail during the severe weather, including a photo that showed baseball-size hail that fell between Bowling Green and Port Royal in Virginia.