A severe and expansive winter storm system is currently wreaking havoc across the eastern two-thirds of the United States, leading to widespread power outages, extensive flight cancellations, and declarations of emergency in multiple states. The storm, described by forecasters as historic and long-duration, is delivering a dangerous mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and perilously cold temperatures.
Widespread Power Disruptions and Emergency Measures
As of Sunday morning Eastern Standard Time, more than 400,000 utility customers were reported to be without electricity, according to data from PowerOutage.us. The outages are particularly concentrated, with approximately 100,000 customers affected in both Mississippi and Texas. Significant disruptions have also been recorded in Louisiana, Tennessee, and New Mexico, with the total number of people without power exceeding half a million nationwide.
In response to the escalating crisis, the US Department of Energy has taken decisive action. On Saturday, it issued an emergency order authorising the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to deploy backup generation resources at critical facilities like data centres, aiming to prevent further blackouts in the state. This was followed by another emergency order on Sunday, authorising grid operator PJM Interconnection to operate "specified resources" in the mid-Atlantic region without regard to typical state or environmental permit limitations.
Transportation Chaos and Flight Groundings
The storm's impact on air travel has been severe. According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, more than 9,600 flights scheduled for Sunday were cancelled across the United States. This comes on top of over 4,000 cancellations recorded on Saturday, creating massive travel disruptions for thousands of passengers. The scene at airports like LaGuardia in New York, where snow removal machines worked tirelessly on the tarmac, has been replicated at hubs nationwide.
Federal and State Emergency Declarations
Recognising the scale of the threat, former President Donald Trump approved federal emergency disaster declarations on Saturday for a dozen states: South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia. In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged citizens to stay safe and warm, noting that monitoring of the situation would continue.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that seventeen states, along with the District of Columbia, had declared their own weather emergencies. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem emphasised the severity of the coming cold during a news conference, advising the public to take necessary precautions.
"It’s going to be very, very cold," Noem stated. "So we’d encourage everybody to stock up on fuel, stock up on food, and we will get through this together." She added that utility crews were working as quickly as possible to restore power.
Forecast Warnings of Crippling Impacts
The National Weather Service has issued stark warnings about the storm's potential. It predicts an unusually expansive weather event that will bring widespread, heavy ice accumulation to the southeastern United States, where "crippling to locally catastrophic impacts" are anticipated. Forecasters also warn of record cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills moving further into the Great Plains region by Monday.
This combination of precipitation and extreme cold poses significant risks to infrastructure, travel, and public safety, with authorities urging residents in affected areas to remain indoors and prepare for prolonged difficult conditions.
