More than 50 million under winter storm alert in the US

Guide to preparing your home for winter storms 2:17

(CNN) --

More than 50 million people across the eastern United States are under winter weather alerts Monday after a massive storm system left its mark from Florida to Maine, spawning tornadoes, freezing rain and heavy snow. throughout the region.

After causing widespread power outages and major road closures across the Southeast on Sunday, the winter storm will change course, bringing heavy snow to the Northeast.

Pittsburgh and Buffalo in New York state could see 8 to 12 inches of snow, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.

More than a foot of heavy snow is also expected in the upper Ohio Valley across the lower Great Lakes region on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

• These are the items to have before a winter storm

High winds could also cause flooding along the coast from Virginia to Maine, Guy said.

Buffalo could see wind gusts of up to 45 mph on Monday, while New York City could see gusts of 55 mph overnight Sunday through Monday and parts of Maine could see gusts of more than 60 miles. per hour.

As of early Monday morning, the storm had left more than 180,000 customers without power in its wake, according to PowerOutage.us.

Among these more than 30,000 in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Georgia had nearly 27,000 customers without power, while Virginia had 13,000 and Pennsylvania had more than 23,000 black customers.

Cold air behind the storm system and a previous Arctic dip in the Northeast will keep temperatures below freezing in that region through Wednesday.

While parts of the South and Mid-Atlantic will see a recovery in temperature on Tuesday, Guy said.

But another round of bitter cold and possibly more snow is shaping up later this week, he added.

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Warning to motorists due to storm

While the worst of the storm is moving to the northeast, roads will still be dangerous in much of the southeast on Monday, especially on overpasses and higher ground, Guy said.

Near-freezing temperatures will keep roads slippery in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Asheville, North Carolina, and in areas as far north as central Ohio.

There could also be icing problems Monday in areas like Winston-Salem, North Carolina;

Roanoke, Virginia, and Charleston, North Carolina, Guy said.

The governors of Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina activated the National Guard to support the response to the storm.

"They are equipped with emergency response vehicles that can move through the snow," North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said of the 200 National Guardsmen deployed to his state.

Driver helps young female passenger during snow storm 1:10

"Eight to 12 inches of snow has fallen in some counties, and a considerable amount of ice is causing problems in the central part of the state," Cooper said Sunday.

Authorities responded to more than 400 crashes on Sunday, North Carolina State Highway Patrol spokesman First Sgt. Christopher Knox told CNN on Sunday night.

He said two people, both 41 and from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were killed Sunday morning on I-95 in Nash County after their vehicle skidded off the road and struck several trees.

"Exceeding a safe speed for the conditions is the proximate cause of the collision," Knox said.

"The weather at the time was a mix of winter precipitation."

Activate the National Guard

In South Carolina, 120 National Guardsmen have been activated and many have been helping stranded motorists, the South Carolina National Guard said on Twitter.

And in Virginia, 75 National Guard members were organized to respond to the storm, including "personnel with chainsaws to clear downed trees and heavy-duty tactical vehicles capable of traveling through deep snow in key locations," the Guard said. Virginia National in a press release.

Virginia State Police say the agency responded to at least 142 traffic crashes and 162 disabled vehicles during a nearly 13-hour period on Sunday.

The National Weather Service office in Atlanta reported numerous accidents in north Georgia on Sunday, and Gov. Brian Kemp asked residents to stay off the roads.

"Possible black ice tonight with temperatures dipping into the 20s, so stay off the roads tonight and tomorrow if possible. It's going to be very treacherous in many parts of our state," the governor said in a statement. Twitter on Sunday.

"Also, the potential for downed power lines is very high right now. So the less traffic we have on the roads, the easier it is for our partners to clear the roads and restore power."

Air travel was also affected by winter conditions, with more than 3,000 US flights canceled on Sunday and more than 1,150 flights canceled as of Monday morning, according to FlightAware.com.

• What should I do if my flight is canceled or delayed?

Tornadoes in Florida

The winter storm affected some Floridians with rare flurries of snow on Sunday.

The National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, tweeted a video from a Pensacola, Florida, resident of gusts at his home and traces were reported in the vicinity of Walnut Hill.

But the system caused far more dangerous conditions in Southwest Florida, where at least two tornadoes destroyed at least 28 homes in Lee County and damaged others, officials said.

Currently, at least 62 homes are "uninhabitable," Cecil Pendergrass, co-chairman of the board of county commissioners, said at a news conference.

One of the tornadoes was an EF2 with maximum winds of 189 kilometers per hour. It may have completely destroyed 30 mobile homes of the 108 damaged mobile homes near Fort Myers, according to a damage survey by the National Weather Service.

Four injuries were reported, but no one was taken to a hospital, authorities said.

In Charlotte County, north of Fort Myers, an EF1 tornado packing 110 mph winds left a path of destruction, according to the weather service.

"A waterspout moved through the Gasparilla Strait near the Boca Grande Causeway before moving ashore as a short-lived tornado near Placida and damaged at least 35 homes and a storage facility at the marina," it said. the weather service in a bulletin.

No one was injured, but some residents were displaced, the Charlotte County government said in a tweet.

CNN's Gene Norman, Chris Boyette, Claudia Dominguez and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

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