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[h=4]4 killed as storm swirls up East Coast[/h]Residents up and down the East Coast were facing cleanup from fast-moving storms.
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Laundromat manager Brad Poindexter, of Danville, Va., walks over bricks at his damaged business after a deadly storm that swept through Waverly, Va., Feb. 24, 2016.(Photo: Steve Helber, AP)
WAVERLY, Va. —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Residents up and down the East Coast were facing a cleanup Thursday morning after a strong storm worked its way northward, killing four, injuring dozens and leaving thousands without power.
Nationwide, more than 2,250<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flights had been canceled by early Wednesday evening and nearly all big U.S. carriers had enacted flexible re-booking policies. And more than 150 flights had already been preemptively canceled for Thursday as airlines scrambled to get their planes and crews back into place.
In Virginia, two men and a young boy were killed in Waverly when their mobile home was destroyed Wednesday afternoon. In Appomattox County, a man whose home was destroyed by the storm was found dead and seven others were injured in the area,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>according to Virginia State Police.
"I'm just shocked for seeing everything with the debris and everything flying up," said Desmond Gardner, a Waverly resident. "Big ball of fire from the power lines and debris smacking against my car as I was sitting in it, and I heard that I lost a good friend today, so my prayers go out to their family."
Due to significant debris from the storm, much of Route 460 and Route 40 were impassable and there were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reports of flooding and high water in the area.
USA TODAY
Storm snarls Chicago flights, heads east
The Virginia Department of Transportation set up<span style="color: Red;">*</span>detours and advised motorists to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>delay or avoid travel in that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>area.
Around Washington, D.C., thousands were without power, according to utilities Pepco and Dominion Power.
The quick-moving storm swirled north into Pennsylvania<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at about 50 mph, knocking down trees and wires along the way.
"This whole area got hit hard with this storm," Saul Schmolitz, a lieutenant with Union Fire Company, said at the scene of a downed 40-foot pine tree on Park Street in East Manchester Township.
Fire crews were sent to Park Street shortly before 7 p.m. for a report of a structure collapse.
Responding fire engines were blocked from driving up Park Street a couple hundred feet from that home because of the 40-foot tree, Schmolitz said. But they were able to get on scene, and determined a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>tree had fallen on the home,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>causing only minor damage. No one was injured.
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The national weather forecast for Thursday, February 25th calls for a mix of snow and rain in the Northeast.
The trees were most likely knocked over by wind, not lightning, which was also striking across York County, Schmolitz said. The whole area in East Manchester Township was left without power.
Carol Deller, a resident there, said she was watching TV when the storm started.
"The thunder cracked and power went out," she said. Deller was moving a mobile home in her driveway, preparing to sleep there for the night with her dogs.
Winds gusts were recorded at 52 mph at York Airport in Jackson Township, said Craig Evanego, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The arriving warm front brought temperatures up to the low 60s.
A bald eagle was spotted on the eagle cam at Codorus State Park hanging on in the nest as the winds blew.
The weather service had reports that 1.23 inches of rain fell at the airport through 8:30 p.m. ET, which was around the time the storm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>moved out of the area.
More than 5,000 residents<span style="color: Red;">*</span>had no power as of 9:30 p.m., according to Met-Ed power outage reports.
For the most part, the storm was fast-moving and powerful, leaving fire crews across the county with a busy schedule responding to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flooded road calls and downed power lines.
In Hellam Township, crews responded to a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>car submerged in floodwaters in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Freysville Road at Kreutz Creek. Two water rescue boats were on scene, but not used. Crews on scene said the passengers in the car got out safely.
York County saw more straight-line wind damage, Evanego said. The National Weather Service had no verified reports that a tornado formed.
It was a different story in Lancaster County, he said, where more structures were damaged by winds that could be related to a tornado, though that was not verified Wednesday night.
The weather service will<span style="color: Red;">*</span>most likely<span style="color: Red;">*</span>send<span style="color: Red;">*</span>out people to inspect the damage in Lancaster to determine if a tornado moved through the area. He said the county, especially eastern Lancaster County, saw "fairly strong rotation signatures" on the doppler radar.
Wednesday's deadly storms were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>part of a large system that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>worked its way east, and across the Deep South.
At least three people were killed Tuesday night as strong storms and tornadoes blasted through the southern U.S.
One person died in Lamar County, Miss., during the severe weather. Two others died when a suspected tornado slammed into the Sugar Hill RV Park near Convent, La.
A possible tornado destroyed 24 units and damaged six others at the Moorings Apartments in Pensacola, Fla., Escambia County officials said. More than 20,000 Georgia customers were without power after the storms, utilities reported Wednesday morning.
The U.S. averages 29 tornadoes in February — most often forming in the Deep South, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Contributing: Doyle Rice,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>USA TODAY;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>York Daily Record;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>WUSA-TV, Washington, D.C.
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