Death toll rises to 11 as storms sweep US

HOUSTON－At least 11 people have been killed as powerful storms swept across southern parts of the United States, with winds, tornadoes, floods and snows.

Hurricane-force wind gusts, golf-ball-sized hail and 5-13 centimeters of snow fell on Friday night and early Saturday as storms pushed from Texas through the Southeast and Great Lakes into Maine, said the National Weather Service, or NWS.

More snow was expected through Sunday in parts of Illinois, Michigan, northern New York and New England.

"The real danger comes from the wind and ice accumulation," said NWS forecaster Bob Oravec in College Park Maryland.

Ice was predicted to cake highways and roads across the South and Northeast from Saturday night to Sunday morning, he said.

"The ice and wind will make driving treacherous, and trees can snap and knock out power and do other damage," he said.

Of the victims, one police officer and one firefighter were killed in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday morning, with another critically injured, after they were hit by a car while responding to a traffic accident, according to local officials.

Police Officer Nicholas Reyna, 27, who had been with the department for one year, died at the scene. Firefighter Lt. David Hill, 39, was taken to a local hospital where he later died. Firefighter Matthew Dawson, 30, was hospitalized in critical condition.

Lubbock Police Chief Floyd Mitchell called it an "extremely tragic day" for the city.

"If people would respect road conditions, things like this wouldn't have to happen," said Lubbock Fire Chief Shaun Fogerson.

A man drowned in Oklahoma after he was swept away by floodwaters while getting out of his stalled truck, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on Saturday.

Randall Hyatt, 58, of Wardville, was overwhelmed by rushing water while getting out of his stalled truck.

An elderly couple were found dead on Saturday near their demolished trailer in Louisiana, and another person was killed on an icy highway in Iowa after the truck the passenger was riding in overturned, local media reported.

About 67,000 customers were without power in Alabama on Saturday night, according to Alabama Power. PowerOutage.us said Georgia had about 98,000 power outages on Saturday evening, with tens of thousands of outages also reported in Mississippi and Louisiana. Outages occurred from Texas to Ohio.

In Tennessee, damage was widespread throughout Shelby County, the state's most populous county, which includes Memphis. There were numerous downed trees and power poles, some of which will need to be replaced, according to the utility.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation said portions of several highways in the southeastern part of the state were closed due to flooding. The Arkansas Department of Transportation reported that portions of several state highways across the state, particularly in southeastern Arkansas, were closed due to downed trees, power lines and flooding.

Many streams were already at or near flood levels because of earlier storms, and heavy rains could lead to flash flooding across the region, forecasters said.

Parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were under flash flood warnings or watches on Saturday.

The storm, bringing the threat of ice and snow to the Chicago area, prompted the cancellation of more than 1,200 flights on Saturday at Chicago's two main airports. Most cancellations occurred at Chicago's O'Hare International, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation's online flight-tracking website.

The weather service issued a winter weather advisory, flood watch and lakeshore flood warning for the Chicago metropolitan area for Saturday and a winter storm warning for adjacent areas of northwestern Illinois.