A winter storm that caused at least four deaths in the US South brought record low temperatures on Wednesday to parts of the region, where it coated roads with ice, snapped power lines and prompted public school closures.
Frigid temperatures and snow were also forecast for the mid-Atlantic region and much of New England through Thursday. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued winter weather advisories and storm warnings for northern Georgia into Virginia and from Massachusetts to Maine.
In Austin, Texas, a vehicle plunged more than 9 meter off a frozen overpass late on Tuesday, killing a man in his 40s, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service said on its Twitter feed.
An 82-year-old woman who suffered from dementia was found dead on Wednesday behind her Houston-area home, likely the victim suffered exposure to the cold, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.
In Georgia, two people were fatally struck by a car that slid on an ice patch near Macon, local media said.
At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the nation’s busiest with a typical volume of 2 700 arrivals and departures a day, about 470 flights had been cancelled by Wednesday afternoon, according to tracking service Flightaware.com.
The sheriff’s office in Oconee County, Georgia, east of Atlanta, tried humor to keep people off icy roads.
“I know you need cigarettes, beer and wine to get you through having your kids at home. Can you just do without for a day? Stay home,” the office said on its Facebook page.
Wednesday’s storm was not the first this winter to bring a blast of frosty weather to the South, where parts of Florida and the Louisiana coast saw their first measurable snowfall in decades.
Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were posted across portions of the Carolinas and southern Virginia.
The governors of Georgia, North Carolina and Louisiana declared states of emergency because of severe conditions that made roads treacherous. In North Carolina, where more than 2 000 snow-plow personnel worked to clear roads, the state Highway Patrol reported nearly 1 600 traffic accidents during the first 12 hours of Wednesday.
More than 23cm of snow has fallen in Durham, North Carolina, since Monday, with 15cm or more measured at various locations across southern Virginia, the NWS said.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper warned at a news briefing that cold temperatures Wednesday night would make travel conditions even more hazardous.
“The snow is pretty but don’t be fooled,” Cooper said.
In Atlanta, many people appeared to be heeding Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s plea to stay off the roads as only a few cars crept along on typically packed highways.
