People make their way through the flooded waters of closed Main Street after severe overnight rain hit Beattyville, Kentucky, on Sunday, Feb. 16. Photo: Brian Simms/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

A massive, severe storm system that’s slamming the U.S. Northeast with heavy snow has this weekend triggered flash flood warnings in West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, where officials reported at least eight deaths.

The big picture: The multifaceted storm that began Saturday has knocked out power to an estimated half a million customers from Virginia to Mississippi and delayed thousands of flights during the holiday weekend.

Screenshot: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear/X

• In Atlanta, Georgia, a local fire department official reported a man in his 60s was killed when a tree fell on his home during the storms.

Threat level: President Trump approved an emergency disaster declaration for Kentucky, making funds available in the storm that’s impacting towns including Hazard, Ky., was were also affected by 2022’s deadly flooding.

• Meanwhile, the storm was bringing powerful and damaging winds to the mid-Atlantic and heavy snow to New England and parts of Ontario and Quebec in Canada.
• Heavy rainfall was expected to continue to bring flash flooding from the mid-Mississippi Valley into the central Appalachians Sunday, per the National Weather Service.
• “Severe thunderstorms may bring damaging winds and tornadoes to parts of the Southeast U.S. this weekend,” the NWS warned in a forecast discussion.

Zoom in: Mandatory evacuations were announced in Kentucky and Tennessee, where Obion County Mayor Steve Carr declared an emergency Sunday due to flooding.

• Beshead said at a Sunday morning briefing that a mother and her 7-year-old daughter were among those to die in floodwater-related incidents in Kentucky and he noted in evening post social media posts that the state was “still facing dangerous conditions across the state.”

By the numbers: In Virginia, where river flooding continued to be a concern, utility tracker poweroutage.us estimated more than 206,000 were without electricity on Sunday evening.

• In Pennsylvania, where very strong winds of up to 63 mph were observed in parts of Philadelphia, nearly 132,000 customers were without power.
• In Maryland, where a high wind warning was in effect through 10pm Sunday ET, nearly 128,000 customers had no power.

Between the lines: Flooding has gotten increasingly severe in an era of extreme weather, research shows.

In photos: Storm system’s effects on U.S., Canada

The Barren River floods at the entrance to Weldon Peete Park after a rainstorm on Feb. 16 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Cars park at the entrance of a flooded housing development after a rain storm on Feb. 16, outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

The Cumberland River floods Liberty Park after a rain storm on February 16, 2025 in Clarksville, Tennessee. Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

A person on Feb. 16 digs out their car following the largest snowstorm to hit Toronto, Ontario, in some two years. Photo: Richard Lautens/Toronto Star Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images

The scene in Chinatown, New York City, during the 27th annual New York Chinese Lunar New Year parade on Feb. 16. The NWS said the storm was expected from upstate New York to interior New England was expected to wind down in the evening, “reducing additional snow accumulations but adding to travel troubles with sleet and freezing rain on top of already slick roads.” Photo: Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Images

Go deeper: Polar vortex-tied cold outbreak pushes into U.S. from the Arctic

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.