Midwest Storms Strike Hard

A blast of snow, freezing rain and plunging temperatures created headaches for travelers Tuesday across the Midwest with canceled flights and cars and tractor-trailer rigs sliding off highways.

A blizzard warning was in effect until midnight for counties north of Indianapolis, and a foot or more of snow was possible across Indiana's midsection and parts of Illinois.

The advancing weather system unleashed severe thunderstorms and a tornado on New Orleans, knocking out power and killing an elderly woman living in a trailer provided to Hurricane Katrina victims, police superintendent Warren Riley said.

The National Weather Service said one tornado was confirmed, but there may have been others.

The hardest-hit areas in the Midwest could get up to a foot (30 cm) of snow in a band across the middle parts of Illinois, Indiana and into northwest Ohio, forecasters said.