Weather experts issued tornado warnings across the eastern US, prompting early closures of US government establishments in Washington DC on Monday.
Due to severe weather, almost 200,000 residences and businesses in Maryland and Virginia lost power, as reported by PowerOutrage.us.
The outage affected approximately 800,000 customers throughout the southern and Mid-Atlantic regions.
By 9 pm EDT on Monday, even though over 29.5 million people were under the threat of tornadoes, The National Weather Service reported no tornado sightings.
While Washington experienced heavy rainfall and hail, it escaped any tornadic activity before the tornado watch from the National Weather Service ended at 9 pm EDT. However, a coastal flood warning remained in effect until 4 am.
FlightAware stated that severe weather led to the cancellation of over 2,600 US flights, with 102 from Washington Reagan National Airport and 35 from Washington Dulles.
An additional 7,700 US flights faced delays. Airlines changed their routes to navigate away from the storms. Moreover, several local and federal services, including libraries, museums, the national zoo, and pools, shut down early in Washington.
Federal staff at the US Office of Personnel Management were also advised to leave by 3 pm.
