Tornado watches were issued for parts of the Virginias, and officials in Washington, D.C., handed out sandbags to protect homes from flooding. Thousands of customers were without electricity in the mid-Atlantic area and New York, and some schools delayed openings.
The storm system has brought suspected tornadoes to several Southeastern states since Monday, from Louisiana to South Carolina. The system was headed toward the Northeast, with colder air turning the rain into snow.
Phil Skinner, Atlanta Journal-Constitution / AP
A home lies in ruins after a suspected tornado struck Buford, Ga., on Tuesday.
In the Atlanta suburb Buford, a possible tornado damaged more than 50 homes, but no injuries were reported.
The entire side of Mike Croker's two-story home was ripped off, exposing a living room with furniture and a staircase. Croker, 54, said he was inside when the roaring wind brought him to his knees and forced him to crawl into his bathroom.
"The kitchen's gone; the great room's gone," Croker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It looks like to me it's pretty well leveled."
Nearby, Reasey and Matthew Lee returned to their home Wednesday and heard their American Eskimo dog, Kirin, whimpering. With the help of another man, they lifted a wall and Kirin came out.
"A house is a house ..." Matthew Lee told the Atlanta newspaper, "but Kirin cannot be replaced."
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Tami O'Connor's house suffered considerable damage and the residence across the street was destroyed. She was home with her two children when the storm hit.
"It didn't take any more than two minutes. As I walked into the living room to tell my kids to get into the basement, my living room imploded," she said. "Half of my living room was sucked into my backyard, but nobody was hurt. It was a miracle. The baby Jesus is still on the mantle."
Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine surveyed the neighborhood from the air Wednesday and estimated insured losses at $5 million.
"It was a small area that was hit, but the parts that were hit were hit bad," he said.
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In Tennessee, a rock slide followed two inches of rain, blocking part of a highway between Knoxville and the airport. Flooding closed roads in the Carolinas, which saw up to six inches of rain in some areas. In Greenville County, S.C., 50-year-old Rita Hunter of Travelers Rest was killed Tuesday when she lost control of her car on a wet roadway, struck a tree and overturned.Wet, wintry weather in Pennsylvania caused flooding and delayed school openings. More than 3 inches of rain had fallen in Pittsburgh since Tuesday morning, National Weather Service officials said, and the drenching forced the evacuation of dorms at the University of Pittsburgh satellite campus in Bradford near the New York state line. Classes were canceled.
Earlier, the storm brought suspected tornadoes to Louisiana and Mississippi, where more than a dozen people were injured. In Yazoo City, Miss., which was hit several months ago by a severe tornado, 63-year-old Clarence Taylor said the town again looked like a war zone. The winds blew off a tarp he had put on his roof to cover damage from the April storm.
"This is the second time it dropped down on this street in just six months," Taylor said. "I've been through it, man."
Associated Press writer Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.