Earth Changes
It was the second-deadliest combination of thunderstorms and tornados in Florida history, cutting a 40-mile swath of destruction across four counties just before daybreak, terrorizing residents of one of the nation's biggest retirement communities, and leaving trees and fields littered with clothes, furniture and splintered lumber.
Residents helped pull the dead from the ruins.
The temblor, which had a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, occurred just after 2 p.m. (1200GMT). Its epicenter was east of the town of Paramythia in Thesprotia province, about 315 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Athens. The quake was felt in surrounding areas.
Many residents said they were unaware trouble was coming and didn't hear warning sirens.
The National Weather Service warned about the coming storm, which struck quickly in the middle of the night.
A dispatcher at the Lake County Sheriff's Office confirmed there were fatalities but did not say how many. The woman, who would not give her name, said damage included ''every kind of damage you can think of.''
The Emergency Situations Ministry said officials in the Omsk region, about 1,400 miles east of Moscow, had warned local residents not use the snow for drinking or other purposes, and to keep domestic animals from it.
The ministry said the snow, which fell on Wednesday afternoon, was yellow, green and orange and had an oily texture and unpleasant smell.
The storm followed snow and freezing drizzle that fell on the area Wednesday, causing dozens of accidents and four deaths.
The first storm, meanwhile, moved into Georgia and the Carolinas on Thursday, and forecasters warned that up to 4 inches of snow along with freezing rain could knock out power and plague drivers.
Snow and ice caused chaos across Germany on Saturday. A man was killed after losing control of his car on the icy roads, while four others were seriously injured in the accident in the town of Kierspe, North Rhine-Westphalia region. Two other people were killed in separate accidents in Rottweil in the southwest.
Low pressure has brought stormy conditions to the south of the country with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and low temperatures.