Snowstorm Barrels Into US as Blast of Icy Weather Widens

AFP/APP

Washington: A powerful snowstorm blasted southern US states on Saturday, snarling travel and bringing subzero temperatures as deadly weather intensified in regions not accustomed to extreme winter conditions.

The latest misery came about a week after a monster storm pummeled a wide swath of the United States, killing more than 100 people and leaving many communities still struggling to dig out from snow and ice.

Heavy snow fell in North Carolina and neighboring states on Saturday, as authorities urged residents to stay off the roads and warned that oceanfront structures were threatened by the storm.

All of North and South Carolina, and portions of Georgia, eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as southern Virginia, were under a winter storm warning.

North Carolina alone reported 750 car crashes on Saturday, according to the highway patrol.

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Faust, North Carolina, recorded 14.5 inches (37 cm) of snow, while West Critz, Virginia, received 12.5 inches. Harrisburg, Tennessee, saw more than 9 inches of accumulation.

In the town of Cape Carteret, high winds sent thick snow blowing sideways, prompting the National Weather Service to warn that travel was “treacherous and potentially life-threatening, especially if you become stranded.”

Dramatic footage released by the Gastonia, North Carolina, police showed a train plowing at high speed into a semi-truck stuck on the tracks, crushing the vehicle. No injuries were reported.

Saturday’s storm forced more than 1,000 flight cancellations at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a major hub for American Airlines. Airport officials said a 300-member “snow team” was working to clear runways, taxiways, roads, and sidewalks.

More than 600 flights were also canceled at Atlanta’s international airport, the world’s busiest.

“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 Saturday.

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“An intense surge of Arctic air behind the coastal storm will send below-freezing temperatures down toward South Florida by Sunday morning.”

Davis, West Virginia, recorded the lowest temperature in the lower 48 states on Saturday — a frigid minus 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 33 Celsius).

Nearly 200,000 customers remained without power on Saturday, mostly in the South, with Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana hardest hit, according to PowerOutage.us.

In North Carolina, the National Park Service announced the closure of campgrounds and some beaches at the Outer Banks, a series of barrier islands off the coast that are particularly vulnerable to storms. Officials warned that oceanfront structures were threatened, and a key highway running through the dunes was closed.

In Mississippi, Governor Tate Reeves said the US Army Corps of Engineers helped install generators at critical sites, while authorities opened 79 shelters and warming centers statewide.

The freezing weather also forced NASA to postpone a key fueling test over the weekend for the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The delay is likely to push back by at least a few days a planned manned Moon flyby scheduled for next month.