Storms Leave Millions Without Power, Kill 6 Across Eastern United States

A series of storms swept across the United States last night leaving millions without power.

According to CBS, at least 6 people were killed during the storms and more than 2 million people are without power across the eastern United States.

Pepco spokeswoman Myra Oppel told Fox News:

“We have more than half our system down. This is definitely going to be a multi-day outage.”

The Associated Press reports that falling trees were responsible for most of the deaths during last night’s storms. A 90-year-old woman was killed in Virginia when a tree slammed into her home. A 25-year-old man in Maryland was killed when a tree fell on top of his car. Two boys in New Jersey were killed when a tree landed on their tent.

CBS also reports that an 18-year-old man was killed in Virginia when he was struck by a power line.

The storms have left the area for the moment, but record-breaking heat and a persistent chance of thunder storms, still has authorities on edge. Ohio and West Virginia have both declared a state of emergency.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in a statement:

“The damage from today’s storms is widespread and in many places severe… With temperatures near 100 degrees expected this weekend, it’s critical that we get people’s power back on as soon as possible. We’re committing 100% of our state’s resources for as long as we need to get this cleaned up.”

While the east coast battles severe thunderstorms, Colorado is fighting a never-ending string of wildfires. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes as fires continue to scorch Colorado.