A deadly storm threatens millions of people across the center of the Atlantic



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By Tim Stelloh

A deadly storm that hit the southern United States this weekend threatened Sunday night millions of people crossing central Atlantic with violent thunderstorms, strong winds and possible tornadoes, National Weather announced. Service.

The same storm wreaked havoc at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, where a blast of winter cold spilled nearly half a foot of snow Sunday, according to NBC Chicago.

More than 1,000 flights to or from the airport have been delayed or canceled, the station reported.

The weather service issued tornado warnings and watches Sunday night for parts of Washington, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were also in effect throughout the region.

People walk on the sidewalk during a snow Sunday in Chicago, where the airport has canceled or delayed more than 1,000 flights due to extreme weather conditions.Nam Y. Huh / AP

The storm killed at least six people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, where officials estimated that a tornado with winds of 140 km / h had hit Robertson County, northwest of Houston.

Justin Roark, of Franklin, Texas, said that he had seen the tornado blow his 18-wheeled vehicle parked on the side.

"I saw one side of a building and a tree flying through the air and starting to turn around," he told KPRC, an affiliate of NBC.

The tornado destroyed 55 houses, a church, four businesses, a duplex and part of the local housing authority building, reported the Associated Press.

A woman was also killed by weather debris near Nacogdoches.

In Louisiana, a 13-year-old boy drowned in a drainage area and a person was found dead inside a vehicle submerged by floodwaters, authorities said.

In Mississippi, a 95-year-old man died in Monroe County after a tree crushed his mobile home, reported WLBT, an affiliate of NBC.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant told reporters on Sunday that he had declared the state of emergency after the storm damaged dozens of roads and left about 26,000 people without electricity in the country. 17 counties.

Nevertheless, Bryant said that the "very violent" conditions of the storm could have been much more deadly.

"At midnight last night, I thought we would have a lot more information to give you a disastrous nature," he said. "Even though we lost our lives because of the storm, the situation could have been much worse."

Allison Burstein contributed.

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