Harsh storm blows across U.S.

The Northeast braced Saturday for a hard-blowing storm that could bring severe coastal flooding, power outages and more than a foot of snow in some places.

As the system blew across the Plains, the unusually violent spring storm rattled Gulf states with thunderstorms, raked Texas with at least two tornadoes and was blamed for five deaths.

“I felt my house start shaking like the wind, and I ran in here and grabbed my little girl,” said Amanda Rymer, 21, of Haltom City, Texas. “As soon as I moved her, the roof fell in right where she was standing.”

Snow stopped falling by Saturday afternoon in eastern Kansas, where some schools and businesses closed Friday as blowing snow created whiteout conditions. Up to 15 inches fell in southwestern Kansas.

By Saturday afternoon, the system was spreading rain from Louisiana to Virginia and across much of the Ohio Valley. Lines of strong thunderstorms rolled across Louisiana and Mississippi into northern Alabama, and tornado warnings were posted for wide areas of Mississippi and some parts of Alabama. By Saturday night, the storm reached western South Carolina.

“This is very odd for this time of year,” National Weather Service meteorologist John Koch said Saturday in New York. “This is something that you would expect to see more in the middle of winter.”