(CNN)A storm system that is bringing snow and freezing rain to parts of the country dealing with power and water outages is also threatening to soak already saturated parts of the Southeast.
More than 100 million people are under winter weather alerts extending from Texas to New England. On Wednesday, snow and freezing rain are expected to bring perilous travel conditions from the south-central US into the central East Coast.Flood and flash flood watches cover around 16 million in the Southeast, including Atlanta and Raleigh, according to the National Weather Service. The watches extend from Georgia into the Carolinas into Friday morning.
This storm aside, brutally cold weather continues across the Central and Southern US, straining utilities and helping leave more than 3.1 million homes and businesses without electricity — about 2.6 million of which were in Texas, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.US.There was good news; 6,000 megawatts were added to the Texas grid Wednesday, enough power for about 1.2 million customers, according to Gov. Greg Abbott. Read MoreIn Houston, Angelina Villarreal was trying to stay warm in her chilly living room, with power out since Monday, and outside temperatures hovered near freezing.
i'm currently in houston texas, my power has been out since monday, and my entire room flooded because of a burst pipe in my ceiling. pic.twitter.com/FnvXF5H3tF
— 🦈 (@ange1inuh) February 17, 2021
Her bedroom flooded, thanks to a burst pipe, she told CNN.”It’s just me, my mom, my sister and my pets trying to keep warm and eat whatever we have here that hasn’t gotten spoiled,” 16-year-old Villarreal wrote on Twitter.Freezing rain already was falling in parts of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana on Wednesday morning, in some places leaving streets and sidewalks coated in ice and making travel difficult.Heavy rain associated with the storm is expected to drop 1-3 inches on the Carolinas and Georgia on Wednesday night into Friday, with some areas seeing higher amounts. The rain will fall on already saturated ground that has picked up already 3-6 inches over the past week.
Texas shivers as furious officials call for answers outagesBad weather has led to at least 30 deaths across the country, including four people who died in three incidents in Oregon due to carbon-monoxide poisoning over the weekend, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. In Texas, officials say high demand and freezing conditions have crippled utilities’ power generation since Sunday, causing rolling power blackouts or continuous outages, sending many people to fireplaces, vehicles or other means to stay warm. LIVE UPDATES ON THE STORMOn Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service:– 3 to 6 inches of snow could fall from Arkansas and the Mid-South to the central Appalachians. Some areas were predicted to get more and Hope, Arkansas, saw 11.5 inches as of 5 p.m. ET.– Significant ice accumulations are forecast in parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.”In areas … with these devastating ice accumulations, residents can expect dangerous travel conditions, numerous power outages and extensive tree damage,” the weather service wrote.By Thursday, the storm is expected to drop snow from the Mid-Atlantic to New England.The poor weather, meanwhile, will cause widespread delays in Covid-19 vaccine deliveries around the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USSara Castillo loads firewood into her car in Dallas on Wednesday, February 17. Castillo’s family has been without power since Sunday.Hide Caption 1 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USA truck travels along a snow-covered Interstate 44 in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.Hide Caption 2 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USCustomers wait outside a Home Depot to buy supplies in Pearland, Texas, on Wednesday. The store would let only one person in at a time because it had no power.Hide Caption 3 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USKendra Clements visits dog owner Billy Madden — with his dogs Leroy Brown and Underdog — at Tribe Gym, an Oklahoma City gym that has been turned into a temporary homeless shelter.Hide Caption 4 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USManessa Grady adjusts an oil lamp while spending time with her sons Zechariah and Noah at their home in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, February 16.Hide Caption 5 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USMaria Patterson breastfeeds her infant daughter Tuesday at their home in Austin, Texas, which hadn’t had power since Sunday night.Hide Caption 6 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USElectric service trucks line up in Fort Worth, Texas, on Tuesday.Hide Caption 7 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USKarla Perez and Esperanza Gonzalez warm up by a barbecue grill after their power was knocked out in Houston on Tuesday.Hide Caption 8 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USJorge Sanhueza-Lyon stands on his kitchen counter to warm his feet over his gas stove in Austin.Hide Caption 9 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USSunlight filters through steam in Omaha, Nebraska, where temperatures dropped below zero on Tuesday.Hide Caption 10 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USCamilla Swindle sits in a shopping cart as she and her boyfriend wait in a long line to enter a grocery store in Austin on Tuesday.Hide Caption 11 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USBrett Archibad entertains his family as they try to stay warm in their home in Pflugerville, Texas, on Tuesday.Hide Caption 12 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USResidents clear snow from a sidewalk in Chicago on Tuesday.Hide Caption 13 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USCustomers use light from a cell phone as they shop for meat at a grocery store in Dallas on Tuesday. Even though the store lost power, it was open for cash-only sales.Hide Caption 14 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USA United Airlines jet is de-iced at the George Bush International Airport in Houston.Hide Caption 15 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USA snow plow clears a parking lot in Columbus, Ohio, early on Tuesday.Hide Caption 16 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USCity worker Kaleb Love works to clear ice from a water fountain in Richardson, Texas, on Tuesday.Hide Caption 17 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USSteam rises off the frozen Missouri River in Kansas City.Hide Caption 18 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USBethany Fischer washes her face as her husband, Nic, lies on a mattress at a church in Houston on Tuesday. The couple lost power to their home.Hide Caption 19 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USHomes in the Westbury neighborhood of Houston are covered in snow on Monday, February 15.Hide Caption 20 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USJames Derrick, who is homeless, peeks out of his tent in Oklahoma City on Monday. The city has gone a record five days without climbing over 20 degrees, and it wasn’t expected to top that temperature until Thursday.Hide Caption 21 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USMotorists take it slow in Indianapolis on Monday.Hide Caption 22 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USA city employee clears sidewalks in South Bend, Indiana, on Monday.Hide Caption 23 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USAustin, Texas, is blanketed in snow on Monday.Hide Caption 24 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USEithan Colindres wears a winter coat inside after his family’s apartment lost power in Houston on Monday.Hide Caption 25 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USTwo women cross Main Street as snow falls in Bowling Green, Ohio, on Monday.Hide Caption 26 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USA boy feeds his pigs in St. Joe, Arkansas, on Monday.Hide Caption 27 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USIce coats a road sign in Midland, Texas, on Monday.Hide Caption 28 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USKirk Caudill shovels snow in Louisville, Kentucky.Hide Caption 29 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USVehicles clear ice at the international airport in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday.Hide Caption 30 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USCrews unload snow that they removed from city streets in Oklahoma City.Hide Caption 31 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USPeople help a stuck motorist in Oklahoma City on Monday.Hide Caption 32 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USPeople walk on a snowy road in Austin, Texas, on Monday.Hide Caption 33 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USMen shovel ice and snow in front of shops in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.Hide Caption 34 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USA few cars drive in San Angelo, Texas, on Sunday.Hide Caption 35 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USPeople enter a Covid-19 testing site in Seattle on Saturday. Seattle reported more than 11 inches of snow over the weekend, its most since January 1972. Hide Caption 36 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USHarrison Walsh skis by Seattle’s Pike Place Market on Saturday.Hide Caption 37 of 38
Photos: Winter storms wreaking havoc in the USCars drive along Interstate 705 as snow falls in Tacoma, Washington, on Saturday.Hide Caption 38 of 38
Spending the night in a car for warmth
In Texas, many residents have scrambled for alternative heating with electricity out continuously or intermittently for days.
How you can help Texas winter storm victimsIn San Antonio, Jordan Orta and her 2-year-old son slept in her car Tuesday night because their powerless home was so cold, as outside temperatures dipped into the 20s. Her home was without power from Tuesday night until early Wednesday, after earlier outages.Water service also has been unreliable, so when she heard service was about to shut off again, “we filled up pitchers and tubs of water,” she told CNN. “I went to (a store on Tuesday) and there was no water left, so if we lose water, it’s all we got until who knows when.””We have a gas stove, so we’ve been able to warm up leftovers and cook what we have,” Orta said.
With many of the downtown sidewalks in Jackson, Mississippi covered with ice, a pedestrian walks on a street as cars pass him on Wednesday.
Power lines fall and water lines break
In Kentucky, parts of which was expected to receive several inches snow by Wednesday evening, already had more than 90,000 power outages, thanks in part to ice storms and snow earlier in the week.In eastern Kentucky’s Montgomery County, James Mitchell’s house lost electricity twice this week.
These cities are approaching or setting records for the number of days of extreme cold”It was 52 (degrees) in the house when we left (Tuesday) morning, so it was pretty cold, but stayed fine underneath the covers,” he told CNN affiliate WLEX.Some eastern Kentucky residents still might not have electricity by week’s end, Gov. Andy Beshear said. That’s because crews have a lot of work to do to repair power lines damaged by the ice storm earlier this week, state emergency management official Michael Dossett said.In Tulsa, Oklahoma, more than 100 water main and service line breaks were reported Tuesday due to freezing conditions, according to the Waterline Break Board on the City of Tulsa’s website.”Water line breaks in Tulsa are creating dangerous conditions,” Tulsa police tweeted with a photo of a parked patrol car that became stuck when a water line broke and the water froze around the vehicle’s wheels.
Who's actually to blame for the Texas power disaster?North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he would declare a state of emergency ahead of icy weather.”People need to be ready to stay home and be prepared to lose power for a while, especially in the northern, western and Piedmont counties,” he said.A strong winter storm in the Northwest, meanwhile, has left more than 145,000 utility customers in Oregon without power as of Wednesday morning. Portland General Electric said late Tuesday at least 8,493 were power lines were down and at least four substations were out.”A series of historic storms has hit our communities, bringing three waves of snow, ice and wind. As each storm rolls in, more ice builds up on trees and power lines, that causes more and more trees and power lines to fall,” the company said.
Madison Horton 15, builds a snowman in her front yard of her home in Nashville, Tennessee.Travel conditions have also led to thousands of canceled flights involving at least one US airport, according to FlightAware.com.
Weather delays Covid-19 vaccinations
Difficult weather is delaying shipments of Covid-19 vaccines in many parts of the country — and that, as well as poor local weather conditions, are causing numerous vaccination sites to postpone appointments.
Cities and states delay Covid-19 vaccine distribution because of winter storms
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he believed his city would temporarily “run out” of doses by Thursday, at least in part because of weather-related shipment delays.Nationwide, “shipping partners are working to deliver vaccine where possible … but the adverse weather is expected to continue to impact shipments” out of the FedEx facility in Memphis, Tennessee, and the UPS operation in Louisville, Kentucky, “which serve as vaccine shipping hubs for multiple states,” CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said Wednesday.
Source: edition.cnn.com
