SILVER SPRING, Md. — Crews across the eastern U.S. worked Tuesday to clear downed trees and power lines and restore electricity following severe storms that killed at least two people, cut power to more than a million customers at their peak, and forced thousands of flight delays and cancellations.
The storms that pounded a swath of the country stretching from Alabama and Tennessee to the Carolinas and New York on Monday continued to lash northern New England with wind and rain a day later.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down Tuesday in the Atlantic Coast town of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, though a survey team was still determining its strength.
The twister damaged homes and vehicles, downed trees and power lines, and may have damaged the water treatment plant, which remained operational, according to a statement from the town’s Select Board. There were no reports of injuries.
Rain also pounded Vermont, which experienced historic flooding last month that inundated its capital city and damaged thousands of homes, businesses and roads. Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said swift rescue teams were ready if needed in the west of the state.
Flash flood warnings were issued in Maine, where storms dumped 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 centimeters) in an area around New Gloucester and Lewiston-Auburn, in the southwest of the state, said weather service meteorologist Sarah Thunberg.
Monday’s storms spawned tornado watches and warnings in 10 states, with around 30 million people under a tornado watch in the afternoon. Forecasters received more than 900 reports of wind damage, including nearly 300 from North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
A preliminary assessment of damage in Knoxville, Tennessee, found that an EF-2 tornado touched down Monday, with winds up to 130 mph (209 kph) and a path as wide as 200 yards (183 meters), said the weather service’s office in Morristown, Tennessee.
An EF-0 tornado with peak winds of 85 mph (137 kph) uprooted trees and damaged the outside of buildings near Lake Norman in North Carolina, the weather service’s office in Greenville-Spartanburg confirmed.
“My rocking chairs flew off of my front porch and I had a couple of pots break and stuff,” Jacob Jolly said at his home in Mooresville, a Charlotte suburb.