Georgia, North Carolina Tally Up Tornado Damage

Tornado victims in Georgia and North Carolina tallied up their losses Sunday from a series of storms that spun across the southeastern United States on Friday, killing 14 people and injuring dozens of others, destroying 60 homes and killing livestock.

James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, toured the devastation Sunday as the federal government added Rockingham County in North Carolina and Hall and White counties in Georgia to the list eligible for assistance.

“It’s been hard. It’s been tough. But I think from what we’re hearing, help is on the way,” White County Commission Chairman Roger London said as he stood in front of the rubble that used to be classrooms at North Hall High School in Gainesville, Ga.

Funeral services were held for two of the Georgia victims.

Elsewhere, winter unleashed a pent-up blast over the weekend, as a surprise snowstorm Sunday dumped up to a foot of snow in the mountains of New England and delayed hundreds of flights at airports across the Northeast.

In New England cities, a wintry mix of snow, sleet and rain mocked the calendar during the first official weekend of spring, as icy gusts of up to 30 mph sent wind chills down to 10 degrees in Boston, while 6 inches of snow blanketed Hartford, Conn.

The season’s biggest snowfall in New Jersey and New York closed La Guardia Airport in New York City for almost five hours Sunday and caused flight delays at John F. Kennedy International and Newark airports, officials said.

In all, 5 inches of snow fell in New York’s Central Park, making it the most significant snowfall this year, the forecaster said.

In New England, up to 7 inches of snow fell in northern Connecticut, central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, while new snow in the mountains of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont was a foot deep in places, forecasters said.

Roads were slick and travel was difficult throughout the region, officials said.