Northeast, Midwest dig out from snow; winds batter South

The winter-weary Northeast and upper Midwest were digging out Saturday from heavy snowfall while cleanup began in battered parts of the South and Midwest after a sprawling storm system produced ferocious winds that left widespread damage and caused multiple deaths.

Snow fell across a large swath of the Northeast, from western New York to New England, with some areas expecting more than a foot of snow Saturday. The mix of snow, sleet and rain prompted the National Weather Service to warn of possible coastal flooding in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The storm could bring as much as 18 inches of snow to parts of New Hampshire and Maine. It also could deliver strong winds that could cause power outages.

Hundreds of businesses were closed, many flights were canceled and some bus service was suspended. The heavy, wet snow was accompanied by winds gusting to 40 to 50 mph, raising concerns about toppled trees and power outages, said meteorologist Jon Palmer with the National Weather Service in Maine.

In the upper Midwest, residents dug out Saturday from heavy snowfall that caused widespread power outages and forced Detroit's Metropolitan

Wayne County Airport to briefly close late Friday.

An Indiana state trooper was struck by a vehicle and killed Friday afternoon while assisting other troopers with traffic backups following weatherrelated crashes.

Master Trooper James R. Bailey, 50, was hit while deploying stop sticks on Interstate 69 near

Auburn to stop a speeding vehicle fleeing Fort

Wayne police, state police said.

Bailey later died at a hospital. A 42-year-old Marion, Indiana, man was arrested and faces a charge of resisting law enforcement causing death to a law enforcement officer.

In Michigan, an 80year-old man was struck and killed Friday evening by a snowplow that was backing up while clearing snow from a driveway in Ann Arbor, MLive.com reported.

The sprawling storm system spawned straightline winds, possible tornadoes and powerful thunderstorms in the South on Friday.

At least five deaths were reported in hard-hit Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday. The storm, with wind gusts surpassing 70 mph, downed trees and power lines and damaged homes and other buildings.

“This is very significant, widespread damage throughout Kentucky,” Beshear said.

In central Tennessee, where the severe weather took down power lines and damaged homes, at least two deaths were blamed on the storm. In both cases, the victims were struck by falling trees.

About 780,000 utility customers in Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

More than 350,000 of those customers were in Kentucky, and the governor warned it would take days for utility crews to fully restore service.

Kentucky’s electric cooperatives reported hundreds of snapped utility poles and thousands of power lines down across the Bluegrass State.