Powerful storm kills 21 people as it rages along the US Eastern coast

The storm, which unleashed deadly twisters in Mississippi and Georgia over the weekend, turned cooler as it advanced on the Northeast, where residents faced potential flooding, downed power lines and high surf late on Monday and early Tuesday, said Tim Morrin, the National Weather Service's New York observation program leader.

“The best place to be is inside,” Morrin said.

Two commuter rail lines operated by New Jersey Transit, which serves about 100,000 passengers daily, suspended service during the evening rush hour between New York City and parts of New Jersey due to fallen power lines, the agency said on its website.

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Powerful storm kills 21 people as it rages along the US Eastern coast

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The storm, which unleashed deadly twisters in Mississippi and Georgia over the weekend

About 750 U.S. airline flights were canceled, with New York metropolitan airports bearing the brunt of the disruptions, according to the air traffic website FlightAware.

The best place to be is inside

Tim Morrin – National Weather Service

New York City emergency management officials warned that wind speeds could reach 60 miles per hour through Monday night, with more than 3 inches of rain possible. Flood advisories and watches were issued for much of the region.

Northern Pennsylvania and parts of New England were expected to receive more than 6 inches of wet snow, producing dangerously slick roads, and AccuWeather said traffic along several interstate highways through the region may be impeded.

Forecasters said winds topping 50 mph could whip the East Coast from Delaware to Maine, where the state legislature canceled all business for Tuesday in anticipation of harsh weather.

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Commuter rail lines have been closed in New York state due to fallen power lines

As the storm front reached the Middle Atlantic Coast on Monday evening, a flood warning was posted for parts of southwestern Virginia, and a high wind advisory was in effect for western North Carolina.

The storm was expected to take a northeastward path away from the U.S. coastline by Wednesday evening, the Weather Service said.

The rain and snow will help ease a dry spell in the northeast United States, where much of the region has suffered from moderate to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Thunderstorms and tornadoes spawned by the same weather system killed 16 people on Sunday in Georgia, according to a tally by the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma. Four of those fatalities were confirmed, and a toddler was reported missing, in Dougherty County after a twister left a path of destruction up to a half mile wide.

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A trailer park was hard hit, and local authorities said they expected the death toll to rise

A trailer park was especially hard hit, and local authorities said they expected the death toll to rise.

“It literally looks like God took half of the caravan park and threw it across the street into the woods,” Dougherty County Commission ChairmanChris Cohilas said at a news conference.

Cohilas expressed frustration at the pace of the federal government in furnishing emergency help, calling it “disgraceful.”

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The storm was expected to take a northeastward path away from the US coastline by Wednesday evening

Astonishing photos taken at the heart of Tornado Alley
Mon, October 24, 2016

These astonishing photos were taken at the heart of Tornado Alley in the Great Plains of United States of America. Storm Chaser and professional photographer Marko Korosec, 34 from Sezana. Marko often travels to the hurricane hotspot in America a few weeks at a time between May and June when the storms are most severe and the tornado season peaks.

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“I would ask President Trump to take some significant steps to cut through the red tape and get us some people on the damned ground,” he said at a news conference on Monday.

Governor Nathan Deal, announcing that he extended a state emergency declaration to 16 Georgia counties, said Trump had called him on Sunday and promised he would be “ready and willing to respond” to an expected request for federal disaster relief.

A tornado killed four people, three of them in caravans, in the southern Mississippi town of Hattiesburg on Saturday, and one person was reported killed in northern Florida when a tree toppled onto a house during a severe thunderstorm, authorities said.

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