A large swatch of the United States has suffered through a winter storm that included heavy snow, flooding, rain, and other severe weather. More than 50 million were under threat. According to PowerOutages.us, on Friday morning, nearly 180,000 homes and businesses across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland were in the dark due to power outages.

Those living on the northern side of the system experienced heavy snow and a wintry mix of snow and rain. In the middle of the system residents had to contend with rain and floods. The southern portion witnessed severe thunderstorms.

Snowfall measuring about 2-inches per hour blanketed sections of the central plains and Midwest on Thursday. Thundersnow was reported in the greater metropolitan area of Kansas City.

Whiteout conditions were reported in the central region of Illinois including Chicago.

East of Peoria, Illinois along Interstate 39, the Illinois State Police noted a 28-vehicle crash with a number of other vehicles sliding off the road. No one was injured. A large section of the highway is expected to remain closed through Friday, according to police.

An ice jam on the Kankakee River south of Chicago broke apart resulting in flash floods. Residents of Wilmington, Illinois were urged to immediately move to higher ground.

A foot of snow fell in Manito, Illinois, in the central portion of the state. By late Thursday, snowfall totals reached 10-inches.

Ice jams could cause major flooding in New York. Governor Kathy Hochul created a state task force to focus on the problem and it has already started monitoring the situation.

Missouri authorities reported blizzard-like conditions and urged that residents stay off the roads. Seven-inches of snow fell in Kansas City, according to the National Weather Service.

Rain measuring 1 to 3-inches fell over areas that had previously been impacted by a significant snowfall and were expected to lead to flooding from the Midwest to New England.

Rivers through the northern Midwest into the northeast are expected to rise to minor to major flood stages in the next few days. Rivers pinpointed to watch included those in northeast Ohio and the Buffalo, New York areas.

Heavy snow fell from northern Oklahoma through to southern Michigan in Thursday. Snowfall attained rates greater than 2-inches per hour. On Thursday morning, Kansas and Missouri were getting pummeled with 1-inch of snow per hour. Sleet and freezing rain was expected south of the areas of the heaviest snowfall and included central Missouri to Ohio.

A wintry mixture of rain, then snow was expected to strike western and northern New York up to Maine. Much of the Northeast, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut is expected to be hit. A wind advisory for Thursday through Friday was issued for the region.

Many southern states including Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee were expecting tornadoes on Thursday. An area extending from the lower Mississippi Valley through the Tennessee Valley were struck by severe thunderstorms through Thursday evening, according to the weather service.

Snow fell in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Thursday. Public schools were closed while some experienced a two-hour delay.

Severe rainstorms and tornadoes hit eleven states from Texas to Virginia.

Residents in parts of northern New England had to contend with light snowfall accumulations and some light icing from freezing rain.

Alabama was heavily hit with winter weather on Thursday. A mobile home park was damaged due to a possible tornado in Leeds, Alabama. There was also damage in Fairfield, Alabama, where the roof of a BP gas station blew off and gas pumps were bent, according to CNN affiliate WVTM.

According to poweroutages.us, as of 9:36 a.m. eastern time on Friday, the top areas of outages included:

• Pennsylvania 54,893
• West Virginia 29,595
• Maryland 27,075
• New York 22,769
• Massachusetts 20,955
• Ohio 10,474
• North Carolina 6,078
• Virginia 5,988
• Florida 5,757
• Texas 4,099

Anyone who has survived a severe winter storm knows how frightening it can be. These storms can often cause major blackouts across large sections of the country that could leave residents in the dark for days or even weeks.

To assure peace of mind, perhaps you should consider the purchase of a standalone generator. Most generators today are programmed to turn on the moment that power is lost from local utilities. Many generators feature Wi-Fi that allows you to control monitor them with your smartphone from anywhere on earth. These generators are also equipped with technology that protects all your electric appliances and consumer electric products from possible surges.

APElectric has a wide inventory of generators from some of the most popular manufacturers in the country. Visit the company’s website to review the available stock and to learn how to select the right generator for your situation.