Nearly 90 million Americans under severe storm threat

LOS ANGELES - Nearly 90 million people in the United States are under severe storm threat ahead of the July Fourth holiday, with potential damaging wind gusts, power outages, large hail and possible tornadoes.

Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms and thunderstorm clusters may develop across the Mid-Atlantic Region and portions of the northern Great Plains Monday into Monday night, according to the US National Weather Service, reported Xinhua.

Severe storm chances are increasing in these regions, the weather service warned.

Severe weather has already battered parts of the United States over the weekend, hitting states including Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Iowa.

The weather has created difficulties for Americans planning to travel for the Independence Day holiday as lots of flights were delayed or cancelled due to severe weather conditions.

There were also over 214,000 homes and businesses across the East without power early Monday morning, including over 55,000 in Missouri, according to Poweroutage.us.

Meanwhile, the Weather Service is warning beach goers to be aware of the dangers of rip currents and other beach hazards ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday.

A total of 55 drownings had already occurred this year from rip currents through June 25, according to the weather service.

At least 11 people have drowned after getting caught in rip currents that have been wreaking havoc along the Gulf of Mexico coastline in recent weeks, as rising temperatures have pushed swimmers into cooler waters, according to a New York Times report.

Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water that are prevalent along the East, Gulf, and West coasts of the United States, as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes.

Experts suggest beach goers to pay attention to warning flags and beach forecasts, and not to panic if they find themselves in a rip current. - Bernama