(NEW YORK) — Over 1,200 flights have been canceled within, into or out of the U.S. on Monday and more than 5,000 flights have been delayed as severe storms target the East Coast.
Cities seeing major impacts at airports include Atlanta, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Boston. The Federal Aviation Administration said thunderstorms are also expected to impact airports in Memphis, Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
In Washington, D.C., federal employees, including at the White House and the Pentagon, have been instructed to leave work early Monday afternoon due to the weather.
The main threats Monday afternoon and evening are tornadoes and destructive winds.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. A tornado watch is stretching across 11 states from Tennessee to West Virginia to Pennsylvania to New Jersey.
By 6 p.m. ET, the storms will be slamming Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and nearing Philadelphia, Raleigh and Atlanta.
The severe weather will be gone by Tuesday morning.
Over the weekend, stormy weather spawned tornadoes, triggered flash flooding, knocked out power and uprooted trees across the U.S.
There were more than 300 damaging storm reports from Colorado to Virginia. There were also 10 reported tornadoes — eight across Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Colorado on Saturday and two in Illinois on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Storm damage was reported from Wichita, Kansas, through central Illinois and into Birmingham, Alabama.
Torrential rainfall led to dangerous flash flooding in parts of northeastern Missouri on Friday night, including in the town of Kahoka where more than 6 inches of rain fell within 6 hours. Water rescues were reported in the area.
Golf ball-sized hail was reported in Loveland, Colorado, and Almena, Kansas, on Saturday.
More than 40,000 people were left without electricity in Alabama on Sunday as gusty winds up to 61 miles per hour brought trees crashing down on power lines.
ABC News’ Clara Mcmichael contributed to this report.
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