By LISA TOLIN
Associated Press Writer
The nation
braced for more severe weather Monday as it emerged from a weekend
of deadly storms, heavy snows and quirkily unseasonable temperatures.
More snow
was possible Monday in parts of the Deep South, which was hit
over the weekend by severe storms and unusually cold temperatures.
"It was
amazing to wake up and see snow outside my window,'' said David
Taylor of Lawrenceville, Ga.
Ice caused
scores of accidents and power outages in Georgia.
A storm system
spawned tornadoes that killed 12 people in Alabama on Saturday,
blowing down trees and causing flooding and scattered power outages
in Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia.
Strong thunderstorms
swept across New England Sunday, nearly toppling a church steeple
in New Bedford, Mass., and cutting electricity to thousands of
homes.
Wind gusting
to 50 mph caused power outages across New England, with an unusual
storm system bringing a combination of record warmth, thunderstorms
and flooding. Boston hit 64 degrees, breaking the record of 62
set in 1984.
"It is
unusual,'' said Charlie Foley, a weather service meteorologist
in Taunton, Mass. "Normally, we don't start off with the
copious amounts of precipitation and the numerous thunderstorms.
This is very atypical weather for December.''
In New Bedford,
fire crews used a crane to try to stabilize the steeple at Our
Lady of Fatima Church, finally lowering it to the ground after
wind left it leaning precariously.
The rain triggered
flood waters as high as 3 feet in Pittsfield and other areas of
western Massachusetts.
Heavy rains
prompted the declaration of states of emergency in 10 communities
in New Jersey and New York. In Albany, N.Y., where more than 4.5
inches of rain fell, city schools were closed Monday.
Wind and lightning
left 9,000 people without power in New Jersey, and gusts reached
70 mph in Keansburg, near the New Jersey shore.
Thousands
of eastern Texas residents who lost electricity during ice storms
may not have power for weeks, utility company officials said.
In Arkansas, crews worked to restore power to more than 100,000
customers.
In Montana,
where bitterly cold temperatures had weakened the snowpack, two
snowmobilers were killed in an avalanche Sunday.
A rash of
accidents in Wyoming led to the closing of parts of Interstate
80, U.S. 30 and U.S. 85. In Colorado, blowing snow kicked up by
gusts of up to 60 mph severely reduced visibility, forcing the
closing of a stretch of Interstate 70.
Up to 9.5
inches of snow in Michigan led to the collapse of section of roof
at a Ramada Inn near Flint.
In Indiana,
where wind chill readings reached 30 degrees below zero early
Sunday, a man was found dead near Interstate 65, apparently from
exposure.
"His
car was found on the interstate where it looked like he had slid
off. From there it seemed he tried to walk to get help,'' said
Ryan Batts of the Boone County Sheriff's Department.
Meanwhile,
the snowy, icy weather stayed far from Southern California, where
people flocked to beaches Sunday to enjoy record-high temperatures
in the upper 80s. The heat wave was expected to continue Monday.
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