cooperating with the british authorities who are investigating this incident. david? david kerley tonight. david, thank you. next, to the deadly storm on the move at this hour. 50 million americans under winter weather advisories. blizzard conditions, snow, ice and at least five reported tornadoes at this hour. blizzard warnings and blinding snow in minnesota. look at this lightning, part of an ice storm in missouri, coating trees, downing branches and power lines there. cars and this bus under water from flooding in tennessee. fierce winds derailing train cars in dexter, missouri. 20 states from the dakotas down to tennessee, all the way up to the northeast. this will affect travel coast to coast. abc s alex perez tonight in the storm zone. reporter: tonight, daring high water rescues across middle tennessee. that powerful winter storm dumping a month s worth of rain in just hours. first responders using flashlights to reach this submerged car, pulling two people to safety. we
morning. our coverage begins with abc s alex perez. reporter: instead of holiday music, it s the sound of generators filling the frozen air in parts of michigan. at one point, more than 300,000 michigan homes without power. crews working around the clock to make repairs. thousands forced to cancel christmas plans and sit in the dark and bitter cold. there s no place to stay. a lot of the hotels are closed. a lot of hotels without power. reporter: with freezing rain, a 300-foot power line covered in ice gets 2,200 pounds heavier, easily enough to snap the line in. two in the northeast, they are coping with the worst ice storm they have seen in 15 years. near syracuse, an inch of ice, coating trees, cars and homes. the scariest part of the whole thing was last night listening to the ice crackle. you can hear it crackle and the trees falling. reporter: in the midwest, deep freeze. feels like temperatures in
canceled. in south dakota, freezing rain, coating trees, snapping limbs and knocking out power. on the west coast, strong wind are expected to pick up again after gusts near 90 miles an hour, sparked fires, knocking out power to thousands and toppling trees including this 50 foot pine in patterson, california, that fell on a teenager. wildlife at risk, too. winds knocking these endangered baby owls right out of the nest. all while in the east, it is sudden summer. temperatures near record highs. paired with dry conditions causing the brush fires, right off a mage aer highway in new jersey. in washington, d.c. cherry blossoms officially at their peak, a perfect day to enjoy them with high temperatures in the 80s. 20 degrees above normal. sam champion, abc news, new york. the extreme shift in temperatures spells trouble with the storm system. it could impact travelers in the middle of the country today. our coverage continuing with