| A sprawling winter storm hit the South with strong thunderstorms and tornado warnings that blew roofs off homes and tossed about furniture Tuesday and brought cities across the Midwest to a standstill with more than half a foot of snow, stranding people on highways. Meanwhile, the Northeast portion of the country is preparing for its forecast of heavy storms. As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 100,000 customers were still without power in Florida alone, with 70,000 power outages reported across Alabama, South Carolina, and North Carolina, according to poweroutage.us. In Kansas and Missouri, more than 60,000 customers were without power, with several tens of thousands also without power spread across Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington. To top it off, New York’s governor is warning that heavy rains and high winds on Tuesday could lead to major power outages throughout the state and flash flooding, especially in the Hudson Valley. Rochester Gas & Electric and National Grid said their crews are on standby across the region ready to respond to outages. | 