⛈ Severe storms pummel southern Florida, killing at least two people.

A line of severe storms packing isolated tornadoes and high winds ripped across the Deep South overnight — killing at least two in the Florida Panhandle, toppling trees and power lines, and leaving homes and businesses damaged as a vast weather front raced across several states.

In Florida, the Washington County Sheriff’s office said Thursday morning that two were killed and two injured when a tornado touched down in the western Florida Panhandle. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has employees in the area to help, spokesperson Samantha Bequer said.

About 185,000 customers were without electricity on Thursday morning in the wake of the storm along a band of states: Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, according to poweroutage.us.

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🛢 US will require valves on new pipelines in a new attempt to prevent disasters

US officials on Monday adopted a long-delayed rule aimed at reducing death and environmental damage from oil and gas pipeline ruptures, in response to repeated fatal explosions and massive spills in California, Michigan and other states.

The rule requires companies to install valves that can quickly shut off the flow of oil, natural gas or other hazardous fuels when pipelines rupture. It came in response to a massive gas explosion in San Bruno, California, that killed eight people in 2010, and to large oil spills that flowed into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River and Montana’s Yellowstone River, as well as many other spills.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg noted that more stringent regulations for the fossil fuel industry were needed because too many people have been harmed by pipeline failures.

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