Storms sock East Coast overnight

The U.S. East Coast was slammed overnight by powerful thunderstorms with heavy rain and damaging winds knocking out power to thousands, forecasters said. The storms affected a wide swath of the Eastern seaboard, from Virginia north to southern New England with more than 100 reports of wind damage logged at the Storm Prediction Center, www.accuweather.com reported. Rising flood waters forced the evacuation of a mobile home park in York County, Pa., after more than 5 inches of rain soaked some places in a matter of hours. Motorists in other areas were forced to flee vehicles after they had become stranded on washed out roadways. In New Jersey, utility companies reported as many as 30,000 people lost power during the storm Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, there were still about 1,500 people who had yet to see their service restored, The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger reported.he tex