A major snowstorm and arctic blast cause travel chaos and power outages across the southern US, with hundreds of crashes and thousands of flights cancelled.
WASHINGTON: A powerful snowstorm brought travel misery and sub-zero temperatures to the southern United States, widening a deadly blast of icy weather.
Heavy snow fell across North Carolina and neighbouring states, with authorities urging residents to stay off treacherous roads.
All of North and South Carolina, plus parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia, were under a winter storm warning.
North Carolina’s highway patrol reported 750 car crashes on Saturday alone.
The National Weather Service warned travel was “Treacherous and Potentially Life-Threatening especially if you become stranded.”
In Gastonia, North Carolina, dramatic police footage showed a train plowing at high speed into a semi-truck stuck on the tracks, crushing the vehicle.
The storm forced over 1,800 flight cancellations at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, a major American Airlines hub.
More than 600 flights were cancelled Saturday at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport.
“An explosively deepening coastal cyclone will continue to bring moderate to heavy snow, high winds, and possibly blizzard conditions for the Carolinas,” the National Weather Service said.
The system also drove an intense surge of arctic air toward South Florida.
Davis, West Virginia recorded the lowest temperature in the lower 48 states at a frigid minus 28F (minus 33C).
About 156,000 customers remained without power early Sunday, mostly across southern states.
Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana were the hardest hit by outages.
In North Carolina, the National Park Service closed campgrounds and beaches at the vulnerable Outer Banks barrier islands.
It warned oceanfront structures were threatened and closed a key dune highway.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said authorities were opening 79 shelters and warming centres across the state.
The US Army Corps of Engineers helped install generators at critical sites.
The freezing weather forced NASA to postpone a key rocket fueling test in Florida.
This will likely delay a planned manned Moon flyby mission slated for this month.
The extreme weather follows a monster storm last week that killed over 100 people nationwide.
