Winter storm cripples travel, leaves more than 1 million without power

A massive winter storm dumped sleet and several inches of heavy snow across the southeastern United States Sunday, leaving more than 1 million customers without power. The National Weather Service had forecast heavy snow from the Ohio Valley to the northeastern United States, while the lower Mississippi Valley, mid-Atlantic, and southeastern U.S. regions were facing what the agency characterized as “catastrophic ice accumulation.” While the precipitation was forecast to end Monday night, much of the country was expected to endure bitterly cold, subzero temperatures through the rest of the week.

Have there been any casualties thus far as a result of the storm? New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters Sunday that at least five people had died in the city as a result of plummeting temperatures. At least two people died of hypothermia in Louisiana over the weekend, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

How extensive were the power outages? Tennessee was particularly hard-hit by power outages, with Nashville Electric Services reporting Sunday morning that 200,000 of its customers were without power. The utility company blamed sleet and ice coating the trees, causing limbs to snap and take down power lines. States such as Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia were each showing power outages Sunday afternoon affecting well over 100,000 customers, while more than 80,000 customers in Texas were without power at the same time. States like West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama and others also suffered from outages.

What about travel disruptions? The air travel tracking website FlightAware indicated nearly 12,000 flight cancellations on Sunday alone, along with nearly 17,000 flight delays. The storm created miserable road conditions and drivers across the affected areas were urged to stay off the roadways.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s Friday report previewing the winter weather.