( CNN ) -- Storms battering the southern United States put 32 million people from West Virginia to Florida at risk of facing severe weather Tuesday , CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons reported . By 7 p.m . ET , Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had more than 500 delays , according to flightaware.com . The storms are already blamed for two deaths , the first October tornado fatalities in the United States since 2009 , CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri reported . Both took place Monday -- one in Alabama and another in Arkansas . Earlier Tuesday , part of the Atlanta area faced a tornado warning . Several inches of rain were pounding large swaths of the Southeast . There were nearly 1,000 lightning strikes in a one-hour period Tuesday morning , Javaheri said . The weather pattern has the Northeast in its sights as well . Some areas could see 3 inches of rain . The expansive storms stretch from Mobile , Alabama , up to Ontario , Canada , Javaheri said . The National Weather Service says there 's a chance of severe thunderstorms in parts of eight states , from the Florida Panhandle north to West Virginia . And while there is a threat of tornadoes , `` widespread wind damage may be more prevalent , '' CNN meteorologist Alexandra Steele said . `` Within some of these storms , the winds may gust to 60 to 70 miles per hour . '' Deaths blamed on weather . A 75-year-old woman in Dora , Alabama , died when a large oak tree fell on her mobile home Monday afternoon , police said . `` She was sitting on her daybed in the trailer and the tree fell directly on top of her , '' said Dora Police Chief John Duchock . Kenneth Watts , a volunteer with the Yerkwood Fire Department , lived nearby and tried to rescue the woman , identified as Shirley Hicks . `` I tried everything I could to get her out , but there was a tree on top of her , '' he tearfully told CNN affiliate WBMA . `` She was like a grandmother to me . '' Her husband was taken to a hospital with head injuries . He 's expected to make a full recovery , WBMA reported . Dora is about 25 miles northwest of Birmingham . Early Monday , a man was killed and three members of his family were injured when storms swept through Little River County in western Arkansas , according Sheriff Gary Gregory , who said the house they were in was leveled . Charles Edward Whithem , 33 , was found dead in the debris near Ashdown , about 18 miles northwest of Texarkana , Gregory said . `` It 's hard to even look at ( the home ) , '' Whithem 's uncle Freddie Harrington told affiliate KTHV . `` It 's sad . I think of all the good times we had . '' The system also flipped cars and destroyed several other buildings in the county .
NEW : Atlanta 's airport , world 's busiest , has more than 500 flights by 7 p.m . ET . Wind damage may be more prevalent than tornadoes , with gusts up to 100 mph . An expansive storm system stretches from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to Ontario . Monday marked the first confirmed U.S. deaths from tornadoes since September .