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(AP) — Powerful storms tore roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in a small town in Oklahoma and threatened more communities across the country Tuesday with weather ranging from fire in the Southern High Plains to blizzards in the Midwest.
Dust storms blinded drivers in the Southwest, tornadoes were possible in the South and blizzard conditions descended on the Central Plains.
In New Orleans, high winds were forcing some changes to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The city moved up and shortened the celebration’s two biggest parades, hoping to wrap them up before high winds moved in.
The weather wasn’t stopping Shalaska Jones and her 2-year-old daughter from waving at passing Mardi Gras floats Tuesday and hoping to catch one of the coveted coconuts thrown to the crowd.
“We was coming out rain, sleet or snow,” Jones said.
The alarming weather expected Tuesday could be one of the first big tests for the National Weather Service after hundreds of forecasters were fired last week as part of President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the size of the federal government. Former employees said the firing of meteorologists who make crucial local forecasts across the U.S. could put lives at risk, though it was too soon to know the impact on forecasts and warnings for this storm.
