Wild Storm Blamed for 5 Deaths Heads East
Pastor Dale Morgan
Wild Storm Blamed for 5 Deaths Heads East*
Sunday April 15, 2007 2:01 AM
By GEORGE M. WALSH
Associated Press Writer
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Northeast braced for a hard-blowing nor'easter
Saturday that could bring severe coastal flooding, power outages and
more than a foot of snow in some places.
As the system blew across the Plains, the unusually violent spring storm
rattled Gulf states with violent thunderstorms, raked Texas with high
winds and was blamed for five deaths.
``This is very odd for this time of year,'' National Weather Service
meteorologist John Koch said Saturday in New York. ``This is something
that you would expect to see more in the middle of winter.''
The storm tore roofs off houses and destroyed porches and garages in
Haltom City, Texas. About a dozen tractor-trailer rigs were blown onto
their sides.
``I felt my house start shaking like the wind and I ran in here and
grabbed my little girl,'' Amanda Rymer, 21, said. ``As soon as I moved
her, the roof fell in right where she was standing.''
One man was killed in Fort Worth by a pile of lumber that fell on him
from his truck during the storm, and a police officer in Irving died
when his patrol car slid on wet pavement and struck a utility pole,
authorities said. A police officer also was killed when his patrol car
slid on wet pavement and struck a utility pole.
Three people were killed in Kansas in traffic accidents on highways
covered with ice and slush, police said.
By Saturday afternoon, the system was spreading rain from Louisiana to
Virginia and across much of the Ohio Valley. Lines of strong
thunderstorms rolled across Louisiana and Mississippi into northern
Alabama, and the National Weather Service posted tornado warnings for
wide areas of Mississippi and some parts of Alabama.
Snow stopped falling by Saturday afternoon in eastern Kansas, where some
schools and businesses closed Friday as blowing snow created whiteout
conditions. Up to 15 inches of snow fell in southwestern Kansas.
The weather system was forecast to strengthen when it reaches the East
Coast on Sunday and form a nor'easter, a storm that follows the coast
northward, with northeasterly wind driving waves and heavy rain.
A flood watch was posted for the New York City region, as the weather
service forecast 2 to 4 inches of rain Sunday with wind gusting to 50
mph. Snow and sleet were possible inland, Koch said.
Officials warned that coastal Long Island could see some of its worst
flooding since a winter storm that wrecked havoc on the island in late
1992. Gov. Eliot Spitzer said some low-lying areas may need to be
evacuated, and deployed 3,200 members of the National Guard to areas
predicted to be in the storm's path.
Further north, the National Weather Service said there could be as much
as 20 inches of snow possible at higher elevations in the Adirondacks
and several inches of rain in the Hudson Valley by the time the storm
passes late Monday and Tuesday.
New Jersey was ready for whatever may fall - snow or rain. About 250
trucks were ready to plow and spread salt on state highways if needed.
The northwest corner of the state was expecting snow, while the rest of
the state was bracing for possible flooding.
``We're ready for everything, which based upon the forecast, is pretty
much what we could get,'' said Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the state
Department of Transportation and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
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On the Net:
Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/
National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/
Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com/