Storms ground hundreds of US flights

A powerful storm pounded the eastern US with wind and pouring rain, grounding hundreds of airline flights and threatening to create some of the worst coastal flooding in 14 years.

Airlines cancelled more than 400 flights at the New York area's three major airports.

One person was killed in South Carolina as dozens of mobile homes were destroyed or damaged by wind, and two died in car accidents – one in New York and one in Connecticut. The storm system already had been blamed for five deaths on Friday in Kansas and Texas.

The storm also flooded people out of their homes in the middle of the night in West Virginia, while other inland states faced a threat of heavy snow.

Thousands of electricity customers lost power in states including New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and North Carolina.

The Coastguard had warned mariners to head for port because wind up to 55mph was expected to generate seas up to 20ft high, Petty Officer Etta Smith said in Boston.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms extended from Florida up the coast to New England. Wind gusted to 71mph at Charleston, South Carolina, the weather service said.

Storm warnings and watches were posted all along the East Coast, with flood warnings extending from North Carolina to the New York area. Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of New England and eastern New York state.