(USA Today) – Ferocious winds from a potent “bomb cyclone” roared across the eastern United States, and 550,000 homes and businesses were still without power Monday. At midday, nearly 80 million people were under high-wind warnings or advisories across parts of 14 states, according to the National Weather Service. At least 1,200 flights were canceled Monday, according to FlightAware. Wind gusts of up to 81 mph were reported from the storm, toppling trees and power lines. Giant chunks of ice spilled over the

banks of the Niagara River across from Buffalo on Sunday, creating bizarre, 30-foot-tall ice mounds. At one point early Monday, 650,000 were without power. The storm was the same system that earlier had brought snow to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, record snow to Flagstaff, Arizona, a blizzard and bitter cold to the upper Midwest and floods and deadly tornadoes in the South. It is called a bomb cyclone because it rapidly intensified after a dramatic drop in atmospheric pressure. READ MORE