A powerful winter storm brought heavy snow and icy conditions to parts of the southern United States on Thursday, forcing authorities to close schools, cancel flights and warn residents in some of the hardest-hit areas to stay off the roads. as the system moved eastward through Oklahoma and Texas.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders mobilized the National Guard to help stranded motorists and classes were suspended Thursday and Friday for millions of children in a wide swath of southern states, from Texas to Georgia.
The storm dumped 6 to 7 inches of snow in some places in central Oklahoma and northern Texas. Heavy snow was later reported in Little Rock, Arkansas, and further south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, where a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain iced roads and made travel hazardous.
“I haven’t seen any accidents, but I saw a couple of people stuck on the road and slipping,” Charles Daniel, a trucker hauling a 50-foot-long trailer loaded with paint, automotive parts and other supplies, said Thursday. on the icy, slippery roads of central Oklahoma. “People shouldn’t be driving.”
Schools canceled classes for more than 1 million students in Texas and Oklahoma, and closures also kept students home in Kansas City and Arkansas, while in Virginia, frustrations rose in the state capital over a notice of boil water caused by a previous round of winter storms.
Hundreds of flights were canceled Thursday morning in Dallas, according to the tracking platform FlightAware. More than 3,800 delays and 1,800 cancellations were reported nationwide.
The polar vortex of ultracold air usually revolves around the North Pole, but sometimes ventures south to the United States, Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
Paul Kirkwood, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the storm hitting the Dallas metropolitan area will create a “band of snow” that will also impact parts of Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and North and South Carolina.
The system is expected to move northeast on Friday, possibly bringing heavy snow and freezing rain to the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. Up to 8 inches of snow could fall in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia through Saturday, the weather service reported.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a statewide state of emergency Thursday as the northern half of the state prepared to receive snow and ice starting Friday morning.
National Weather Service forecasters warned that snow and ice are likely to accumulate in the Atlanta metropolitan area, making roads hazardous and possibly causing power outages.
In Tennessee, Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state’s largest district with more than 100,000 students, announced that all schools and administrative buildings will be closed Friday amid forecasts of heavy snow.
Meanwhile, Memphis is forecast to receive approximately 8 inches of snow on Friday.
Parts of South Carolina braced for the first winter storm in three years, and in North Carolina, Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm, which forecasters said could drop as much as 7.6 inches of snow to many parts of the state, with higher amounts expected in mountainous areas.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels YouTube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.
Add Comment