75 million Americans affected by severe storm warnings

Three people have died as a result of reported tornadoes on Tuesday.

ByABC News
March 1, 2017, 5:18 PM

— -- Deadly storms that ripped through the Midwest Tuesday are expected to affect 75 million Americans from the South to Northeast.

Tornado and severe thunderstorm watches are in effect from Mississippi to New Jersey as the line of storms continues to move eastward.

Tornadoes tear through Midwest

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Debbie Loughridge's damaged home and car are seen among debris in Naplate, Ill., March 1, 2017. Loughridge and her son rode out the storm in the bathtub. "All I heard was the wind and the breaking glass. Like an explosion of glass," she said.
Teresa Crawford/AP

    Although the tornado threat is lower today than yesterday, isolated tornadoes as still possible, especially in the South. The greatest threat for tornadoes and large hail is in the Southeast, while damaging wind gusts are expected in the Mid-Atlantic.

    PHOTO: The severe weather that ripped through the Midwest Tuesday is now moving east.
    The severe weather that ripped through the Midwest Tuesday is now moving east.

    Residents in the affected areas can expect damaging winds of up to 70 mph. Power outages are currently affecting 12,122 customers in Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri and Illinois. As many as 146,060 residents were left without power in the aforementioned states on Wednesday.

    The storms will weaken into the evening, but after that, meteorologists are still expecting severe weather from Alabama to Virginia in the form of strong wind gusts.

    PHOTO: Valerie McAvoy and daughter Jayda Weathersby, 9, hug as they survey tornado damage of their neighborhood, March 1, 2017, in Naplate, Ill.
    Valerie McAvoy and daughter Jayda Weathersby, 9, hug as they survey tornado damage of their neighborhood, March 1, 2017, in Naplate, Ill. Communities across Illinois are cleaning up after deadly storms producing tornadoes moved through much of the Midwest.

    Three people have died as a result of the storms, and 14 tornadoes have been confirmed in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Michigan.

    Video posted to Facebook shows the damage in Naplate, Illinois, after the tornadoes hit.

    Four people were injured in Higginson, Arkansas, from a confirmed EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of up to 110 mph. Several homes sustained major damage in the storm, and two homes were completed destroyed.

    Hail the size of baseballs also fell in Arkansas and Illinois.

    ABC News' Amanda Maile and Dominick Proto contributed to this report.

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