A powerful winter storm raked the Southeast on Thursday with high winds, rain and floods that killed at least four people and injured several more across a dozen states. Rescue crews repeatedly pulled people from cars that got stuck in high water, but couldn’t reach a person whose vehicle disappeared into a rain-swollen creek.

The governor of Virginia has declared a state of emergency as heavy rains and extreme flooding continue to occur in the Southeast. Gov. Ralph Northam says more than 500 people in the southwestern part of the state have been displaced by flooding and needed to be rescued from their homes.

The storm front destroyed mobile homes in Mississippi and Alabama, caused mudslides in Tennessee and Kentucky and flooded communities that shoulder waterways across the Appalachian region. In Florida, high winds prompted the closure of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge spanning Tampa Bay, the Florida Highway Patrol said. Tornado watches were in effect Thursday night from northern Florida up through North Carolina.

In Harlan County, Kentucky, two mobile homes floated away as dozens of families were evacuated amid rising water, authorities said.

“It’s a very bad situation that continues to worsen by the hour,” said Harlan County Judge Executive Dan Mosley.