A large storm system spouting heavy winds and possible tornadoes in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas damaged homes and buildings, downed trees, left thousands without power and was blamed for the deaths of 10 people Friday as it marched eastward, threatening heavy snow in the Midwest and Northeast.
Three people were killed by falling trees in Alabama as severe weather swept through the state. A 70-year-old man sitting in his truck in Talledega County was killed when a tree fell onto his vehicle. A 43-year-old man in Lauderdale County and a man in Huntsville also were killed Friday, local authorities said.
Three weather-related deaths were reported in Kentucky on Friday. The deaths happened in three different counties as storms with straight-line winds moved through the state. More than 350,000 customers were without power as of Friday evening. News outlets reported two people died in Tennessee when trees fell on them.
A woman died inside her SUV in Mississippi after a rotted tree branch struck her vehicle, and in Arkansas a man drowned after he drove into high floodwaters.
The storm system turned toward New England, where a mix of snow, sleet and rain is expected across the region starting Friday night and lasting into today, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a winter storm warning.
There's a chance of coastal flooding in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the storm could bring as much as 18 inches of snow to parts of New Hampshire and Maine. The storm will also bring strong winds with gusts of 40 to 50 mph, which could cause power failures.
Airport officials in Portland, Maine, canceled several flights for today ahead of the weather and some libraries and businesses in the region announced weekend closures. Still, with warmer weather expected to return by the end of the weekend, most New Englanders were taking the storm in stride.
It wasn't the same story in California, where the weather system slammed the state earlier in the week with as much as 10 feet of snow.
Some residents of Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas emerged Friday to find their homes and businesses damaged and trees toppled by the reported tornadoes. Tens of thousands remained without power and some were also without water.
The Louisiana State University-Shreveport campus shut down overnight because of the weather, but a spokesperson said the campus reopened Friday.
In Texas, winds brought down trees, ripped the roof off a grocery store in Little Elm, north of Dallas, and overturned four 18-wheelers along U.S. 75. Minor injuries were reported, police said.
Winds of nearly 80 mph were recorded near the Fort Worth suburb of Blue Mound. The roof of an apartment building in the suburb of Hurst was blown away, resident Michael Roberts told KDFW-TV.
"The whole building started shaking. ... The whole ceiling is gone," Roberts said. "It got really crazy."
Heavy rain was also reported in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, causing flooding in both states.
Hail and strong winds were reported in Oklahoma. Elsewhere in the Midwest, Minnesota and Wisconsin expected areas of freezing fog with less than a quarter mile of visibility into the weekend, the weather service said. In North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota, highways could get up to 10 inches of snow and 45 mph wind gusts on Sunday and Monday.
Information for this article was contributed by Kimberly Chandler, Margery Beck, Corey Williams, Mark Pratt, Chevel Johnson, Trisha Ahmed, Emily Wagster Pettus and Dylan Lovan of The Associated Press.
Gallery: Storms roll eastward after slamming Texas
