Deadly storm pounds US east coast

Tornados, wind gusts of up to 70 mph and pounding hail remained threats early Monday from eastern New York and into New England, as the remnants of a deadly weekend storm push out to sea, the National Weather Service said.

"This is an ongoing threat," said meteorologist Brian Hurley at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.

"It's halfway through the eastern states now. By daybreak it'll be cutting through New York City, eastern Virginia and into Boston by 7 or 8 (a.m.)," he said.

The weekend storm brought tornadoes that killed at least five people, including three children, in the U.S. South, officials said.

At least one tornado was reported Sunday morning in southeast Alabama, near Troy and Goshen, the National Weather Service's Birmingham office said.

"Heavy rainfall may hide this tornado. Do not wait to see or hear the tornado. Take cover now," the NWS office said.

"Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely."

The weather service also issued tornado watches Sunday evening for parts of Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina -- including Raleigh and Charlotte -- lasting through Sunday night.

Some of the greatest threats include scattered tornadoes, wind gusts reaching 70 mph and hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter.

The massive storm system sped from Texas eastward with dozens of twisters reported as touching down across the South from Texas through Georgia into Pennsylvania.

More than 134,000 homes and businesses were without power early Monday in Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.US, with thousands of more outages reported in North Carolina, Michigan, Maryland, and New York.

Nearly 2,300 U.S. flights were cancelled by Sunday evening, more than 90 percent of them at airports in Chicago; Houston, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio and a dozen major airports on the Eastern Seaboard, according to FlightAware.com.

But no major flight delays were reported on the east coast.