Strong storms hit Alabama, kill two

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Search and rescue team combed through debris in Alabama after powerful thunderstorms pummeled the state early on Monday, killing at least two people and leaving heavy damage just hours after tornadoes struck portions of Arkansas.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency after the predawn storms hit the Birmingham area, with the towns of Center Point and Trussville just to the northeast of the city hit particularly hard.

Two people were confirmed dead, according to Pat Curry, Jefferson County's chief deputy coroner; one in Clay, a city of roughly 10,000 people, and another in the western part of the county.

Earlier, an emergency management official had reported three deaths.

"We have major, major damage," said Bob Ammons, a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) official, referring to Center Point, Trussville and some unincorporated areas of the county.

About 100 people were treated for injuries, said Jefferson County EMA spokesman Mark Kelly.

Last April, massive tornadoes tore through Alabama killing more than 240 people, including 64 in the Jefferson and Tuscaloosa areas.

On Monday, in St. Clair County, Alabama, spokeswoman Katie Reese said a local fire department estimated some 36 homes had been damaged, and some of them destroyed.

The possibility for sporadic thunderstorms in the region lingered, according to AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity, but overall the severe weather was calming down.

THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER

Clean-up and recovery efforts were under way across Alabama on Monday afternoon.

Food safety inspectors had been dispatched to assess damage and power outages at retail food establishments, state officials said, adding that any compromised products would be taken off shelves.

Search and rescue efforts were ongoing, according to Matt Angelo of the Center Point fire department. The injury count in that area northeast of Birmingham remained at about 12, he said.

At nearby Parkway Veterinary Clinic animals were being transported to a safe location after the structure sustained a direct hit during the storm, a spokeswoman said.

Earlier, rescue crews were dispatched to investigate reports of an overturned mobile home with people trapped inside, said Debbie Orange, city clerk for the city of Clanton, about midway between Birmingham and Montgomery. No injuries could be confirmed.

A preliminary report from the weather service's storm prediction center indicated a radio station in Clanton, Alabama was destroyed and a 302-foot (92-meter) transmission tower "toppled" due to the severe weather.

A tornado is suspected, but not yet confirmed, in the radio station destruction, according to the National Weather Service.

In Tennessee, the worst storm damage was in the middle of the state, with downed trees and power lines. In western Tennessee, structural damage resulted from winds whipping up to 65 mph, meteorologists said.

These were the latest in a series of powerful January storms to have torn through the Southeast.

On Sunday, twisters downed trees and powerlines in Arkansas leaving thousands without power.

A tornado ripped into an area outside of Fordyce, some 70 miles south of state capital Little Rock, damaging houses and felling trees and power lines as it moved, according to Accuweather.com.

The National Weather Service in Little Rock rated the Fordyce area tornado as an EF2, on a scale that ranges from EF0 to EF5, the most severe. The town of just under 5,000 people was one of the hardest hit areas in a series of storms that struck Arkansas on Sunday night.

Significant damage occurred to houses northwest of the small town, the city's country club and a set of transmission towers, it said in a statement.

The weather service has reported as many as eight possible tornadoes may have touched down on Sunday night in Arkansas, which was pelted by soft-ball sized hailstones and buffeted by winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

By Monday, almost 8,000 customers across Arkansas were still without power, according to utility provider Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

(Additional reporting by Tim Ghianni in Nashville, Suzi Parker in Little Rock and Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Alabama; Writing by Dan Burns and Lauren Keiper; Editing by Greg McCune and Sandra Maler)

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Storms leave 300,000 without power in Chicago area

Tuesday night's storms in the Chicago area blew trees and limbs onto vehicles and power lines.Rain and thunderstorms batter the areaSome in Illinois could go days without power More than 380 flights are canceled at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports

(CNN) -- More than 300,000 electric customers were without power early Wednesday morning in Chicago and its suburbs, electric company Commonwealth Edison said.

Spokesman Bennie Currie said while crews are working to restore power, it could take days to return service to all customers.

Did you experience severe weather in the Chicago area? Share your story.

"The severe storms that passed through our service territory caused extensive damage, which will result in a multiple day restoration effort," the electric company said in a statement.

The severe weather also caused travel problems in the Chicago area.

At O'Hare International Airport, 350 flights have been canceled, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. The department also reported departure delays of up to two hours late Tuesday night.

Flights were delayed at Chicago's Midway Airport for up to two hours due to rain and thunderstorms, according the the city's aviation department. Thirty flights were canceled at that airport.

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Storms blast southern Michigan, leave many without power

(CNN) -- Severe storms pounded south-central Michigan Sunday, knocking out power to more than 100,000 customers and cutting a path of destruction through the city of Battle Creek, officials said.

"The storms hit our business corridor and residential area the hardest," said Mike McKenzie, Battle Creek's emergency services director. "There are numerous trees on houses and cars, widespread power outages and a lot of businesses damaged."

The severe weather hit Battle Creek late Sunday afternoon, kicking up winds in excess of 80 mph, according to McKenzie, who said no major injuries had been reported.

In Calhoun County, where Battle Creek is located, some 29,000 customers of Consumers Power were without electricity late Sunday, company spokesman Jay Jacobs said. Throughout the states, 104,000 customers of the utility were without power.

Severe weather also raked the Chicago area, forcing the cancellation of 450 flights, according to a media official at O'Hare International Airport.

CNN's Rick Martin and Greg Morrison contributed to this report

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East Coast spared from storms' fury

NEW: Three people die after trees fall during the storm in Atlanta, police sayStorms stretch from Maine to GeorgiaThe death toll in Joplin, Missouri, is 126, the coroner saysA new list of those unaccounted for is to be released Friday in JoplinDid you experience the tornado in Joplin, Missouri? Send your photos, videos or stories. Tune in at 8 ET Saturday night for CNN Presents' "A Twister's Fury: In the Path of Destruction." CNN shows you how large parts of Joplin, Missouri, were reduced to rubble in minutes, yet hope remains with amazing stories of survival.

(CNN) -- Severe weather that pummeled large sections of the central United States this week largely spared the eastern third of the country even as the U.S. heartland counted the devastating toll to its communities.

By early Friday, a line of storms stretching from New England to the Deep South, while still active, had dissipated.

Three people died Thursday evening in Atlanta after trees fell on two vehicles, said city police spokeswoman Kim Jones.

Among them was 19 year-old Alonzo Terry Daniel, who was clearing debris from the front of his home when a large oak tree fell on top of him.

There were numerous reports of wires and trees down throughout the city, but no indication of tornadoes like those that ripped through the central part of the nation this week.

Those storms have killed at least 142 people across four states.

The Missouri city of Joplin took the full force of a massive twister that hit that city Sunday night, killing at least 126 people,

Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges said Thursday night.

Joplin's EF5 twister -- which had winds topping 200 mph -- is the single deadliest tornado in the United States since modern record-keeping began 61 years ago.

Criticism has grown as local authorities struggle to identify the victims' bodies.

Complicating the effort has been the poor condition of many of the bodies, resulting in false identification.

Authorities are relying on information such as dental records, fingerprints, DNA and other data.

"A lot have blood on their face, they don't look like they used to look," Bridges said of the victims.

A federal government team will head the effort to identify the tornado victims after flying in $2 million worth of equipment, Bridges said.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety is compiling and updating a list of the people missing and unaccounted for in Joplin.

The initial list with the 232 people reported missing since Sunday night can be found online at dps.mo.gov.

Another storm system that peppered the region late Tuesday and early Wednesday left 10 people dead in Oklahoma, four in Arkansas and two in Kansas, authorities said. The numbers fluctuated as officials scrambled to deal with the disaster.

The most severe damage from that round of severe weather appeared to be in central Oklahoma's Canadian County, which includes a sliver of Oklahoma City.

At least seven people were killed and more than 100 were injured, according to the sheriff's department and the county's emergency management office. Others were missing, authorities said.

Cole Hamil, a 15-month-old boy, was among those killed. And on Thursday, authorities found the body of his 3-year-old brother, Ryan, floating in a lake. Their 5-year-old sister Cathleen survived, as did their mother, Catherine Hamil, who is pregnant.

"I lost both of my boys," said a tearful Hank Hamil, the brothers' father, on Thursday.

"Ryan was my little buddy. Cole was, too. I loved them both," said Hamil, who was out of town when the storms struck.

A less deadly, but still destructive, round of severe weather hit Indiana late Wednesday, pounding the town of Bedford.

A tornado flattened the home of 81-year-old Virginia Sowders, who was next door with family at the time the tornado hit. Only a few cinder blocks sat where her home had been 24 hours earlier.

"I didn't know if anyone was alive when I got over here," her daughter, Sandy Miller, told CNN affiliate WXIN-TV on Thursday. "When we got over here, I panicked ... my mother (was) sitting in the driveway ... covered in blood."

The storms left tens of thousands of Duke Energy customers without power across the Hoosier State, with a smaller number losing electricity in Ohio and neighboring states.

It has been a historic tornado season in the United States. More than 500 people have been killed, according to figures from the National Weather Service and local authorities. That makes 2011 the deadliest season since 1953, when 519 people were killed in twisters.

CNN's Ed Payne, Marlena Baldacci, Vivian Kuo, Randi Kaye and Leslie Tripp contributed to this report.

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Midwest braces for more storms

Amazing storm survival storiesSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Forecasters say seven states, mostly in the Midwest, at risk for severe weather TuesdayCities at risk include Indianapolis, Tulsa and St. LouisWeather service confirms at least 97 tornadoes in last week's storms Weekend outbreak in the southeastern U.S. is largest since 2008, records show Chicago (CNN) -- Another round of severe storms Tuesday could strike Oklahoma, one of the states hit by a wave of violent weather last week, forecasters say.

National Weather Service forecasts early Tuesday include the possibility of heavy winds, large hail and tornadoes also in Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, western Tennessee, Indiana and Missouri. The cities at risk of severe weather include St. Louis, Indianapolis and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The threat of heavy storms is predicted to diminish in those areas on Wednesday morning, but the Northeast could experience isolated outbreaks of severe storms later in the day, forecasters said.

The South, according to forecasters, has little chance of suffering a repeat Tuesday of the violent storms and tornadoes that killed at least 45 people last week.

Three days after the largest tornado outbreak since 2008 raked the Southeast, the focus has shifted in the region to cleanup.

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More than 40 killed in Southern storms

said Mosley, 54.

In Richmond, Va., a tornado touched down Saturday night at the switchyard of the Surry Power Station nuclear plant, cut off electricity and triggered a shutdown of two reactors, Dominion Virginia Power, which operates the station, said in a statement.

There was no danger, the facility said.

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Deadly storms rip through N.C., Va.

Aerial view of N.C. storm damageSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Bertie County, North Carolina manager reports 11 confirmed fatalities The National Weather Service reports 14 deaths in Bertie County"Reports are still incoming," a North Carolina official saysStorm-related deaths are reported in six other states"Epic event" for North Carolina, CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras saysIf severe weather happens near you, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please be careful.
See more coverage from CNN affiliates WTVD, WRAL, WNCN, News14, WITN

(CNN) -- Powerful storms that have ripped across the Southeast killed as many as 44 people over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service and reports from several states.

A CNN meteorologist called the storms' impact on North Carolina "epic."

There were 14 deaths in Bertie County, North Carolina, a rural area in the northeast part of the state, the weather service said Sunday.

Zee Lamb, Bertie County manager, told CNN that he could confirm 11 fatalities.

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Storms, tornadoes kill at least 17 across South

Storms, tornadoes kill at least 17 across the South By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Flood warnings were issued across portions of western Alabama SaturdayNEW: Hazardous weather warnings were taken down in Mississippi, the weather service reportedNEW: Survey teams spread out across Alabama, conducting aerial evaluations NEW: Tornado warnings remained in effect for the Carolinas until later Saturday afternoonIf severe weather happens near you, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please be careful.

(CNN) -- A band of fast-moving storms brought reports of more than one hundred possible tornadoes across the South on Saturday, toppling trees, snapping power lines and bringing the two-day death toll to 17.

Emergency crews in Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama worked to assess the damage as the storm system moved north into the Carolinas and southern Virginia, according to the National Weather Service.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency Friday after reports of tornado touchdowns in at least six counties.

Multiple injuries were reported in Sumter and Marengo counties, with at least one fatality in the latter, he said.

Three people were also killed in Autauga County after fallen trees crashed into mobile homes in the area, police said.

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Storms head for Deep South after raking Oklahoma

Seven dead in severe storms By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Storms kill at least seven in two statesNEW: Forecasters say Mississippi and Alabama under the gun todayFive people died in Oklahoma due to downed trees.Two people died in apparent Tushka, Oklahoma twisterIf severe weather happens near you, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please be careful.

Atlanta (CNN) -- At least seven people in Oklahoma and Arkansas have died as the result of a powerful line of storms now pushing into the Southeast, authorities said Friday.

The system posed the greatest threat Friday to parts of Alabama and Mississippi, where forecasters warned of possible tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds. Forecasters said severe weather was possible Friday afternoon across northern Mississippi and Alabama and into central Tennessee.

The storm tore through parts of the Midwest on Thursday, leaving a trail of downed trees and power lines, scattered cars and crushed homes as it moved east. It killed two people in the southeastern Oklahoma city of Tushka, where authorities say a tornado touched down Thursday night. It also left five dead when trees fell on homes in four separate Arkansas incidents, authorities said.

Nearly 36,000 people were without power Friday morning in Arkansas, half of them in Pulaski County, the state Department of Emergency Management reported.

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Storms, power outages roll through South

A tornado hit a Kentucky manufacturing plant on Monday. STORY HIGHLIGHTSSevere weather forces Tennessee school officials to hold students at day's end147,000 are without power in GeorgiaThe dire weather will continue through early Tuesday morningRELATED TOPICSTornadoesNational Weather ServiceGeorgia Power Company (CNN) -- Severe storms pummeled much of the South late Monday, with high winds downing power lines and plunging thousands of households in the dark in several states.

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches from the Gulf Coast to the Carolinas.

It said it received nearly 600 reports of severe winds across the southeast on Monday, 19 instances of suspected tornado-related damage and 72 reports of hail.

Reports of funnel clouds poured into the weather service's office from Sumner County, Tennessee, where the severe weather forced school officials to hold students at the end of the school day, reported CNN affiliate WZTV.

"It got so bad, I grabbed my son (and) got him in the closet," resident Chuck Carter told the station. "We always go to the closet when we think there is a tornado in the area."

In southern Kentucky, line of uprooted trees dotted damaged roads. No injuries were reported, however.

Melvin Pendley wondered how to repair his home, which had its roof blown off.

"The ceilings are collapsed in the bedroom and half the living room," he told CNN affiliate WBKO. "Half of the inside is still OK right now. With all this rain, we don't know what's going to happen now."

In Georgia, the storms knocked out power to 147,000 customers out statewide, Georgia Power said early Tuesday morning.

The dire weather will continue through Tuesday morning, with a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms across parts of eastern Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, central Alabama and southeastern Mississippi, the weather service said.

It also forecast a slight risk of severe thunderstorms across parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley, southern Appalachians, eastern Gulf Coast states and as far north as the mid-Atlantic states.

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Tornado hits Kentucky plant; storms hit the South

About 184 employees were inside a manufacturing plant when the storm arrived shortly after 1 p.m., police say. STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Likely tornado touches down in LouisianaStorms strike parts of Kentucky, Arkansas and TennesseeTornado apparently strikes manufacturing plant in KentuckyPolice spokesman: "It could have been a lot worse" RELATED TOPICSTornadoesWeatherKentucky (CNN) -- A tornado zeroed in Monday afternoon on a manufacturing plant in southwestern Kentucky, tossing pieces of the roof, collapsing part of the aluminum structure and injuring seven people, officials said.

Elsewhere in the South, thunderstorms caused damage, injuries and power failures.

Severe thunderstorm warnings extended from Atlanta to Charleston, West Virginia, and eastern Ohio.

About 184 employees were inside TGASK, a plant that makes automotive parts, when the storm arrived shortly after 1 p.m., said Paul Ray, spokesman for the Hopkinsville Police Department.

None of the injured had life-threatening injuries, said spokeswoman Jessica Beckham of Jennie Stuart Medical Center. Ray said the injuries were mostly bumps and bruises.

The manufacturing plant is between Hopkinsville and Pembroke.

"It could have been a lot worse," Ray told CNN. The plant was "very fortunate that at that time, there were very few injuries, and only minor injuries." All employees had been accounted for, he added.

The Kentucky Division of Emergency Management said possible tornadoes struck near La Center in Ballard County, with injuries being reported.

One injury was reported from a storm that hit a mobile home park in Greenville, Kentucky, said Police Chief Darren Harvey.

A likely tornado touched down two miles south of Georgetown in Grant Parish, Louisiana, on Monday afternoon, the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office said. There were reports of widespread damage in the community of Selma.

Numerous trees and power lines were down across the area, the sheriff's department said.

Officials in Arkansas reported at least three injuries from fast-moving storms.

More than 58,000 customers were without power in Tennessee, according to Nashville Electric Service.

Storms also struck Humphreys County in Tennessee, about 60 miles west of Nashville, according to authorities.

"We were hit hard in our downtown area," said Waverly City Manager Buddy Frazier.

Although no injuries were reported, trees, power lines, roofs and structures were down, Frazier told CNN.

A dispatcher said a communications tower was down in Humphreys County, but workers were still able to send and receive messages.

CNN's Sean Morris, Chuck Johnston, Aaron Cooper, Dave Alsup and Jackie Castillo contributed to this report

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