NEW ORLEANS – A line of powerful thunderstorms swept across the Deep South and Gulf Coast on Monday, one day after storms left trails of damage from Texas to Kentucky.HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHERSevere weather pounding the Gulf Coast on Monday has put millions of people in cities such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge in Louisiana, Mobile in Alabama, and Tallahassee in Florida on alert for strong to severe thunderstorms that could spawn hail, damaging wind gusts, and even some tornadoes.In addition, storms that bubble up over the Gulf could produce waterspouts as they approach the shoreline.DOWNLOAD THE FREE FOX WEATHER APPStorms moved across portions of Texas before sweeping off to the east Monday morning, with emergency management officials in Galveston County reporting damage to a home in the community of San Leon.Storms then raced across Louisiana, with a video shared from Livingston showing vivid lightning, heavy rain and strong winds blasting through the area.Another video captured lightning illuminating the sky over Baton Rogue, where a 78-mph wind gust, which is as strong as a Category 1 hurricane, was reported at Baton Rogue Airport.Strong winds toppled part of a large tree in East Baton Rouge onto a school bus in Zachary early Monday morning. A Zachary Community School District spokesperson told FOX Weather that students were not in the section of the bus where the tree fell, and no one was injured. The spokesperson said Zachary Elementary temporarily lost power during the storm prompting an early dismissal.Numerous Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued Monday morning, and additional alerts were expected to be issued as storms charged east through the late morning and afternoon hours.Because of the threat on Monday, the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for nearly 3 million people in portions of Louisiana and Mississippi, but that expired early Monday afternoon.HOW PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS NOTIFY YOU DURING SEVERE WEATHER EMERGENCIESThunderstorms are possible from Louisiana to North Carolina on Monday.
