Winds batter southeastern US after snowstorm, tornadoes blast Midwest

Reuters: A powerful storm that blasted the north central United States with heavy, wet snow and damaging tornadoes pushed onward Friday, threatening more twisters, severe thunderstorms and high winds in the southeastern states, forecasters said.

In central Georgia, trees and power lines were knocked down, and several buildings damaged on Friday morning, but no injuries were reported, a county official said. The damaging winds came "very, very close" to a private school with children inside, Laurens County manager Bryan Rogers said.

The storm, called a panhandle hook for its origin in the panhandles of Oklahoma or Texas and its twisting shape, triggered concerns about damaging winds and possible tornadoes from parts of South Carolina through North Carolina, Virginia, southern Maryland and Delaware, forecasters said.

"There is a pretty extensive line of storms that extends from just west and southwest of Washington D.C. all the way down to the Florida panhandle," said Jeremy Grams, a meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center.

There were more than three dozen reports on Friday of high winds and damage in southern Georgia, northern Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and eastern Kentucky....

From 2003: Naval Station Norfolk, Va. (Sept. 18, 2003) -- Rain and heavy winds from Hurricane Isabel pound the beach at Naval Station Norfolk, as the storm moves inland. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Michael Pendergrass. (RELEASED)