Millions of Americans across the country are on alert for a severe weather outbreak as violent, long-track tornadoes with damaging winds of up to 80 mph and large hail are expected across the Midwest and South with the cross-country storm moving east.

Live updates: 36 dead as storms head east; over 380,000 customers without power across East Coast, South and Midwest The storms have left nearly 16 million under tornado watches from Florida to the Carolinas. The deadly storms that ravaged much of the South and the Midwest this weekend are heading east today.

The weather cut a swathe of destruction across an area of the country that is home to more than 100 million people.