USA : Brutal storms moving into the East after a harrowing night of tornadoes in the South leaves 18 dead

The East Coast braced for an onslaught of severe weather Monday after a harrowing Easter night that saw people huddled in basements, closets and tubs as tornadoes raged across the South, leaving at least 18 dead. 

Destructive winds, possible tornadoes and flooding were possible Monday, the Weather Channel said, one day after at least 39 reported tornadoes pounded several states. Much of the South was under flash flood, tornado and thunderstorm warnings and watches.

The possibility of severe thunderstorms stretched from northern Florida into parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Monday afternoon or evening, the Weather Channel said. The biggest concern: Destructive wind gusts and tornadoes from central Virginia into central and eastern parts of the Carolinas and southeastern Georgia. 

By later in the afternoon and evening Monday, the storm system could extend farther into the Northeast. 

In Mississippi and Louisiana, the dangerous system spawned at least 13 radar-confirmed tornadoes Sunday that damaged up to 300 homes and buildings. More than 60,000 customers were without power across the two states. At least six people died in Mississippi and six in Georgia.

The Chattanooga, Tennessee, area and several counties in northwest Georgia appeared to take the brunt of the destruction. Murray County, Georgia, Fire Chief Dewayne Bain told WAGA-TV that two mobile home parks were severely damaged. Five people were killed and five others hospitalized; another person was killed when a tree fell on a home in Cartersville, Georgia, the station reported.

At least 14 people were hospitalized in the Chattanooga area, where search and rescue teams from at least 10 fire departments were going door to door responding to more than 300 emergency calls, the fire department said.

The fierce storms system caused flooding and mudslides in mountainous areas overnight, and knocked out power for about 750,000 people in a 10-state area from Texas to Georgia up to West Virginia, according to poweroutages.us.