.webp)
D.C., August 7 - U.S. federal offices in the Washington, D.C., region closed early on Monday because of the ominous weather, which was accompanied by warnings of potential tornadoes, severe winds, and massive hail stones throughout the eastern United States.
According to the tracking website PowerOutage.us, swiftly moving thunderstorms and strong winds uprooted trees and cut off electricity to roughly 200,000 homes and businesses in neighbouring Maryland and Virginia. Up to 800,000 people in the southern and mid-Atlantic regions were without electricity.
By the time a National Weather Service tornado watch ended at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT), the nation's capital had avoided any twisters despite being soaked in rain and hit by some hail.
Washington was under a coastal flood warning until 4 a.m. (0800 GMT).
More than 29.5 million people from Alabama to western New York state, as per the National Weather Service, were at risk of tornadoes on Monday, but as of 9 p.m. EDT, none had been recorded.
Thunderstorms prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to order all outgoing aircraft at airports in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Baltimore to be grounded. As far as possible, the FAA said it was rerouting flights to avoid the storms.
.
Other municipal and government facilities in the Washington region, including libraries, museums, the National Zoo, pools, and others, were also closing early. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, government workers were to leave work no later than 3 p.m.
A flight tracking website called FlightAware said that over 2,600 flights within the United States had been canceled, including 102 at Washington Reagan National Airport and 35 at Washington Dulles. Additional 7,700 American flights have been delayed.
Source:
- https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-government-offices-close-dc-due-severe-storm-threat-2023-08-07/