Over 1,000 flights canceled as severe weather strikes East Coast

Over 1,000 flights canceled as severe weather strikes East Coast
FILE — Mike Hollingshead/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — The East Coast is bracing for severe thunderstorms on Monday from New York and Connecticut down to South Carolina, potentially impacting more than 86 million Americans.

The highest threat will be lightning, large hail and wind gusts up to 70 mph.

Airlines have cancelled more than 1,000 flights due to the severe weather, with airports in New York City, Boston and Atlanta seeing the biggest impacts so far.

The cities in the bullseye of Monday’s storms will be Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Philadelphia.

New York state’s Hudson Valley and New York City as well as parts of Connecticut are also under threat for severe storms.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for parts of western New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware though 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, more than 350,000 customers are without power across Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia in the wake of rough storms.

Severe weather this weekend spawned at least 20 reported tornadoes across Iowa, Michigan and Indiana.

On Sunday alone, there were four reported tornadoes in Indiana, killing at least one person and damaging or destroying dozens of homes, local authorities said.

In Lonoke County, Arkansas, two people were killed when a tree fell on a mobile home, a coroner official told ABC News.

Another person was killed by a fallen tree in Fulton County, Georgia, local authorities said.

ABC News’ Matt Foster, Mariama Jalloh and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.

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