Huge Storm spawns Terrifying Tornado as it pushes East
Pastor Dale Morgan
Huge Storm spawns Terrifying Tornado as it pushes East*
Weather blamed for 2 deaths as Northeast braces for rain, snow, flooding
A severe weather system blamed for two deaths plowed eastward Saturday,
rattling the Gulf states with strong thunderstorms as the Northeast
prepared for possible coastal flooding.
The storm blew across the southern Plains on Friday, piling snow a foot
deep in Kansas and raking Texas with high wind.
“I felt my house start shaking like the wind and I ran in here and
grabbed my little girl,” Amanda Rymer, 21, said in Haltom City, Texas.
“As soon as I moved her, the roof fell in right where she was standing.”
The storm tore roofs off houses in Rymer’s neighbor and destroyed
porches and garages. About a dozen tractor-trailer rigs were blown onto
their sides.
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.
By Saturday morning, 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.
‘Very odd for this time of year’
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.
Cars are blanketed with snow at a dealership Friday in Windham, Maine.
“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.”
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.
The combination of rain, onshore wind and the approach of one of the
spring’s highest tides on Tuesday could add up to significant coastal
surges, Koch said.
Forecaster Brian Korty said the entire eastern half of the country would
feel the brunt of it in the coming days, calling it the kind of storm
that happens “once every 20 years.”
Winds up to 25 mph were forecast for the Carolinas on Saturday before
the storm was to hit the Northeast with heavy snow or rain by Sunday.
Forecasters also warned of possible flooding.
‘Potential for a very bad storm’
The New York National Guard alerted units that might be needed for
emergency work, and Long Island’s Suffolk County told emergency workers
to be ready for possible duty.
“There is potential for a very bad storm,” said Joseph Williams, Suffolk
County’s commissioner of fire, rescue and emergency services.
Snow continued falling Saturday in eastern Kansas, where some schools
and businesses closed Friday as blowing snow created whiteout
conditions. Nearly a foot of snow fell near Syracuse, Kan.
NASCAR Nextel Cup qualifying races at Texas Motor Speedway were halted
and thousands of fans were advised to move to safety as tornado sirens
blared at the speedway in Fort Worth.
A tornado was spotted near Bedford, a suburb between Dallas and Forth
Worth, though no damage was reported, the National Weather Service said.