Storms, tornadoes batter South; Northeast braces for deep snow

Thousands of flights were canceled, angry storms and tornadoes tore through several Southern states, and the Northeast was bracing for up to 20 inches of snow Thursday as a gnarly winter storm roared east.

The storm front caused at least two fatalities and several injuries across a dozen states, destroying mobile homes in Alabama and Mississippi and prompting flooding and mudslides in states from the South to the Appalachian region.

Tornado watches were in effect Thursday evening from northern Florida up through North Carolina, and heavy rains brought travel delays and school closures.

In Kentucky, states of emergency were declared in Bell and Harlan counties amid rock slides and water rescues. Two mobile homes floated away as dozens of families were evacuated amid rising water, authorities said.

“It’s a very bad situation that continues to worsen by the hour,” Harlan County Judge Executive Dan Mosley said.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, more than 1,200 flights were delayed by midday.

In North Carolina, the FAA evacuated the control tower at Charlotte Douglas International Airport because of a tornado threat. More than 400 flights were canceled. Operations later resumed after an airfield inspection showed no damage.

The weather service confirmed that an 800-footwide tornado had torn through Yazoo County, Mississippi, toppling trees and damaging homes.

A tornado also hit the Birmingham suburb of Helena. One death was reported in the state when high winds smashed mobile homes near Demopolis.

Farther north, a winter storm was rolling in after a whirlwind trip across much of the Midwest and Southwest that featured snow as far south as the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas. A mix of rain, freezing rain and sleet in parts of New York state and New England was forecast to become a howling snowstorm before concluding Friday, Longley said. Some areas could see up to 3 inches of snow an hour.

“In northern New York up to Vermont and Maine you could see locally up to 20 inches of snow depending on where the snow bands set up,” Longley said.

The wintry storm system comes just days after springlike warmth across the East.

“This winter has been all over the place, it can’t seem to make up its mind,” Longley said. “But it looks like we are getting into more of a winter trend.”