STORM

A storm sweeping through Greece has claimed a third victim, state TV reported Monday, after damaging roads and buildings on the islands of Lemnos, Rhodes and other parts of the country.

The storm began as a hurricane, the strongest on record to hit Florida's Big Bend, and then moved north into Georgia and the Carolinas.

Tropical storm force winds reached as far as 140 miles from the storm's centre, and a wind gust of 57 mph was recorded at Sand Key in the Florida Keys.

This will make Beryl the first Atlantic hurricane to hit the US in the 2024 summer and fall hurricane season.

Beryl is expected to reach the Caribbean islands of Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and Martinique late on Sunday.

Over the weekend, deadly storms ravaged Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, resulting in at least 18 fatalities, hundreds of injuries, and widespread destruction.

Des Moines, Davenport, and Peoria are on high alert, with damaging winds expected to hit speeds of 70 to 90 mph, potentially affecting major cities like Chicago and Milwaukee this afternoon and evening.

Severe storms struck the Houston area on Thursday night for the second time this month, resulting in at least four deaths and cutting power to nearly 1 million homes and businesses across Texas.

Severe weather conditions resulted in significant delays across airports in New York City.

A second, weaker storm was forecast to bring an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow in the region between Monday and Wednesday next week.

A staggering 40 million people are under the threat of severe storms from Missouri to Michigan, with cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Louisville on high alert.

An intense, long-lasting atmospheric river began moving into California on Sunday, leaving about 800,000 customers are without power in the state.

The northern coastal ranges and the Sierra Nevada are expected to see the worst of the storm and receive up to 3 feet of snow.

Gov. Brian Kemp's declaration will allow additional resources to be brought into Georgia to help offset the damage from the severe weather.

Stormchaser and photographer Aaron Rigsby described arriving at the scene and hearing "a constant cry of voices screaming for help from people that were trapped."

"The most impactful weather system to affect the U.S. through midweek is forecast to move across California and the Southwest," the NWS said.

Significant damaging winds and brief tornadoes might continue into the early hours of Monday.

"... This will likely be one of the most impactful systems on a widespread scale that this meteorologist has seen in a long while," the NWS said.

New York Governor Kathy Hochol declared a 'state of emergency Wednesday night ahead of a major snowstorm expected to hit Thursday morning and continue throughout the weekend in Buffalo, NY and surrounding areas.

At least one person was killed, dozens injured, and multiple people are missing after deadly tornadoes hit Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas Friday evening.

"Hurricane Ian has made landfall as an extremely dangerous hurricane near Cayo Costa, Florida with maximum sustained winds at 150 mph," National Hurricane Center (NHC) officials tweeted at 3:05 p.m. EDT.