Storms Southern United States

Wind and rain from the fringes of Hurricane Bonnie hit the Bahamas on Saturday, as the storm's top winds neared 95 mph and it took aim at possible U.S. landfall within days. Bonnie passed hurricane strength of 74 mph early Saturday, and its eye stayed offshore as it skirted the Bahamas. It stalled briefly during the day, allowing it to build power over the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean before resuming its march west-northwest.

Deadly thunderstorms swept across the lower Mississippi Valley, flattening homes and poultry farms and ripping down power lines. At least 12 deaths were blamed on the storms, and dozens of people were injured. The scream of warning sirens woke Roosevelt Greenwood before dawn Saturday in Madison, Miss., and he crowded with his wife and four children into a tiny hall closet. "As soon as I closed the door to the closet, the tornado hit. It took the roof off," said Greenwood, 33.

President Clinton declared major disaster areas in Virginia, South Carolina and Florida as a result of Hurricanes Bonnie and Earl. The action makes federal funding available to people in five Virginia cities affected by Bonnie from Aug. 25 to Sept. 1, and gets relief money to local governments in South Carolina's Horry County to help replace or repair public facilities damaged by Bonnie.

Tropical Storm Barry blew across the Florida Panhandle and Alabama, knocking down tree limbs and power lines before falling apart. Its heavy rainfall was welcomed by farmers struggling to raise crops in dry fields. The storm briefly neared hurricane strength before its eye crossed the Florida coast just after midnight Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. By late morning, Barry's maximum sustained wind had dropped from nearly 65 mph to 30 mph and it was downgraded to a tropical

Snow and bitter cold blew across the Midwest on Monday, closing schools, delaying flights and disrupting the electoral college vote in Minnesota. A chill also settled over the hard-hit South. As much as 17 inches of snow were forecast for parts of Wisconsin by today, with lighter amounts expected in Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. The storm was a nightmare for travelers.

Hundreds of thousands of coastal residents from Florida to North Carolina moved inland Wednesday while forecasters puzzled over the eventual path of Hurricane Bertha, which was slow dancing northward off the Eastern Seaboard. A long-anticipated turn to the north seemed to steer Bertha and its 100-mph winds away from Florida, but forecasters warned that the South Carolina shore, North Carolina's Outer Banks and other barrier islands could be in danger by today or Friday.

The astronauts aboard the shuttle Discovery did some weather forecasting Saturday as they beamed down television pictures of Tropical Storm Gert in the Gulf of Mexico and thunderstorms in the Caribbean. "It looks pretty threatening," Discovery mission commander Frank Culbertson said. He showed several minutes of videotape recorded as the shuttle, about 180 miles high, passed over the center of Gert north of the Yucatan Peninsula. "It looks like it's growing.

Strong thunderstorms in parts of Louisiana and Arkansas took the roof off a building, downed trees and power lines and left hail up to 3 inches deep. A cold front advancing through the central United States brought up to 4 inches of wet, heavy snow to eastern North Dakota, winds gusting to 49 m.p.h. in Sioux Falls, S.D., and gusts to 46 m.p.h. in Ord, Columbus and Kearney, Neb. Showers and thunderstorms fell over southern Arkansas, northern Louisiana and northwestern Mississippi.

Thunderstorms soaked the nation's midsection Friday, causing flooding in Indiana in the wake of a swarm of tornadoes. "Flooding along the Wabash River in southwest Indiana was described as being immense, with the river two miles wide in western Gibson County at Interstate 64," the National Weather Service reported. In Arkansas, the Ouachita River crested at Camden, at less than 10 feet over the flood stage of 26 feet.

Thunderstorms whipped wind and torrential rain through parts of the South on Friday, demolishing part of an airport in weather-beaten Louisiana, while a mid-spring snowstorm blanketed parts of the Dakotas and the West. The skies opened up Friday and drenched parts of Louisiana and neighboring Texas. The National Weather Service reported that Shreveport, La., recorded more than 3 1/2 inches of rain in six hours, while San Antonio got more than two inches during the same period.

Residents of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama braced for drenching rainfall and the possibility of flooding Sunday as Tropical Storm Barry headed for land, slowly gaining strength as it plowed across the Gulf of Mexico. The storm had a slight chance of turning into a hurricane before making landfall sometime during the night, and a hurricane warning remained in effect for Pensacola eastward to the Ochlockonee River in Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical Storm Barry stalled in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and looked likely to bypass Louisiana and hit Alabama or the Florida Panhandle when it began moving. "Our official track does bring it inland somewhere between Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla. We are seeing a rightward adjustment to the track," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Hugh Cobb said. The news was a relief to Mayor David Camardelle of Grand Isle, Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island.

A storm system packing hurricane-force winds lashed parts of the South on Friday, knocking out power to thousands of people and filling rivers with rain. At least two people were killed, authorities said. Soldiers from Ft. Hood, Texas, used a helicopter to pluck three children and a driver from the roof of a school bus swept into a rain-swollen creek near China Spring, 80 miles southwest of Dallas.

A mixture of snow, ice and rain disrupted travel, closed schools and threatened to cause flooding across a broad band of the central United States from the northern Plains to the Deep South on Monday. Sheets of ice sent vehicles spinning across roadways and forced pedestrians to adopt an awkward shuffle to keep from falling. Visibility was a half-mile, and thickening snow covered a treacherous layer of ice, blamed for several pileups in eastern Nebraska, an official said.

Snow and bitter cold blew across the Midwest on Monday, closing schools, delaying flights and disrupting the electoral college vote in Minnesota. A chill also settled over the hard-hit South. As much as 17 inches of snow were forecast for parts of Wisconsin by today, with lighter amounts expected in Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. The storm was a nightmare for travelers.

For the first time since 1994, the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts got through the hurricane season without being hit by one. Two tropical storms--Gordon and Helene--hit Florida in September, causing about $26.8 million in damage but no deaths or injuries. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. Overall, there were 14 named storms during the 2000 season: eight hurricanes and six tropical storms. The average is 10 named storms per year.

A cold front brought strong winds to the Atlantic Coast from Washington to New England, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of heavy wind gusts, flying debris and wet leaves on slippery roads. The winds downed trees and knocked out electricity to more than 23,000 homes. The South rebounded from nearly two dozen weekend tornadoes that killed two people in Mississippi and injured several others.

Thunderstorms spawning fierce winds swept through the central Gulf Coast and a tornado was sighted in south-central Louisiana but it caused no injuries. The tornado near Scott, La., blew away signs and tree limbs. No serious property damage was reported. Winds gusted to 48 m.p.h. at Baton Rouge, La. Rain doused a wide area from coastal Texas across the lower Mississippi Valley to the southern Appalachians.

Hail, heavy rain, high winds and tornadoes tore through the South early Monday, ripping off roofs and tossing trees into power lines. The storms struck from Texas to Georgia, with at least one storm-related death reported in Alabama. Damage was widespread: Roofs and power lines broke in or near dozens of cities and towns. "There may have been big tornadoes, they just didn't hit populated areas," said meteorologist Tim Destri of the National Weather Service office in Slidell, La.

Severe storms and possible tornadoes ripped through the South, damaging homes and leaving thousands without power. At least four deaths were blamed on the weather. The heavy rain and winds blustered into Georgia and Florida. No major damage was reported. In Tuscaloosa, Ala., officials said a 52-year-old woman died when debris from a billboard struck her. In Texas, three people died in two separate wrecks blamed on wet road conditions.