Some 200,000 people were without power in the eastern United States Monday morning after a major winter storm swept through the region, sparking multiple tornadoes in Florida.

The storm, which brought snow to the northern plains and upper Midwest over the weekend, appeared to cause thousands of flight cancellations between Sunday and Monday.

In North Carolina, it also seems to have played a role in the deaths of two people on Sunday after a vehicle veered off Interstate 95 before hitting several trees in a median.

Nearly 700 miles south of southwest Florida, multiple tornadoes were charged with destroying more than two dozen homes and damaging others in Lee County on the Gulf Coast, while thousands of homes were left without power.

According to Miami’s National Weather Service, there were “several tornadoes” in southwest Florida on Sunday morning. NBC News has contacted the weather service for more information.

Speaking at a press conference that day, Cecil Pendergrass, co-chairman of the County Board of Commissioners, said four people had been injured, while more than 60 homes had been rendered ‘unlivable’ by the tornadoes. , according to The Miami Herald.

Pendergrass said the EF2 tornado also left about 7,000 homes without power. As of early Monday morning, just under 1,150 homes in Florida appeared to be without power, according to online tracker PowerOutage.us.

Meanwhile, more than 187,000 customers in other eastern US states were also left without power early Monday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.

Tens of thousands of homes in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York have been affected, with more than 60,000 customers without power in the Carolinas alone.

The storm also appeared to force the cancellation of thousands of flights on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday, more than 3,000 flights to, from and within the United States were canceled, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Early morning Monday, more than 1,200 flights were canceled for the day.

An American Airlines spokesperson said the company had canceled about 580 flights on its mainline and regional routes for Monday.

“This weekend’s winter storm had a significant impact on our operations,” an American Airlines spokesperson said. They added that the vast majority of affected flights had been canceled in advance “so that we can proactively inform and welcome our customers and avoid last minute disruptions at the airport”.

The spokesperson said customers whose travel plans have been impacted by the storm can rebook with no change fees.

A Delta Air Lines spokesperson said the company also proactively canceled about 500 flights systemwide on Sunday and 75 on Monday “in anticipation of winter conditions affecting our operations.”

The airline said it expected to be able to resume regular operations by Monday afternoon, adding that of the customer flights that were affected, more than 90% had received new regular flight schedules in eight hours after their original flight.

The storm system again wreaked havoc on the roads, with two people killed in a crash in Nash County, North Carolina, NBC affiliate WRAL-TV reported.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol said the incident took place just before 7:30 a.m. Sunday, with a driver traveling southbound on Interstate 95 veering off the road and hitting several trees in a median, the station reported.

The driver and a passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, they said, saying exceeding a safe speed for the conditions was thought to be a factor in the accident.

A dramatic scene also unfolded in Durham, North Carolina, on Sunday, with footage showing a tractor-trailer hanging from a bridge after sliding off North Carolina Route 147.

The driver of the vehicle was taken to hospital but is expected to be fine, WRAL-TV reported.

Marty Homan of the North Carolina Department of Transportation said structural engineers should assess the bridge before reopening, the station reported. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.

The incidents came as Governor Roy Cooper warned drivers in the state to “stay put.”

“The best way to avoid a car accident or getting stuck is to stay put,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement Sunday. “Fewer people on the road means fewer car crashes, and it helps highway crews and utility workers get faster results,” he said.

By early Monday morning, the storm system had reached the northeast and was expected to move into southeastern Canada by Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service said the system is expected to produce heavy snowfall over parts of the lower Great Lakes, central Appalachia and northeastern Appalachia on Monday, with rain also expected over coastal and interior portions of southern and northern New England.

By Tuesday morning, “scattered patches of light snow” should be seen over parts of central Appalachia, extending to higher elevations in the northeast.

The Weather Service warned that “heavy snow” was also expected in parts of the upper Mississippi Valley, near Lake Superior and in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from Tuesday through Wednesday.