First massive winter storm of 2024 roars toward East Coast after blizzards hit Midwest and tornadoes strike the South

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The major population centers of the East Coast were bracing for impact on Tuesday with the arrival of a massive winter storm that plowed eastward from the Midwest, bringing snowstorms and blizzards in the north and tornadoes and flooding to the Southeast.

One person was killed and two more were critically injured in a mobile home community in North Carolina, an official says.

Over 25 million people in the Southeast, from Florida up through Virginia, are under tornado watches issued by the Storm Prediction Center. At least a dozen tornadoes were reported in areas around the Florida panhandle, causing significant damage and prompting rescues, officials said. Whipping winds knocked out power for hundreds of thousands and hundreds of flights were canceled, after blizzard conditions hit the Midwest, threatening to dump another six inches of snow amid 70 mph winds.

New Jersey's governor declared a state of emergency and New York's warned of "life threatening" impacts of flash-flooding as torrential rains followed a snowy weekend.

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