By Jacki Thrapp
NASHVILLE—More than 880,000 Americans woke up in the dark on Jan. 25 as a severe winter storm shut off power across the South and prompted airlines to cancel more than 10,000 U.S. flights.
The most affected airports were Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, and all three of the New York area airports—LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty Airport, and John F Kennedy International Airport, according to flight tracker FlyAware.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines had the most flights nixed, with each canceling more than 1,200 flights on Sunday alone. Delta Air Lines announced on Sunday it will operate a reduced flight schedule due to the frozen temperatures.
The weekend storm dumped snow and glazed powerlines with ice from the Southern Rocky Mountains and into New England.
As of 11:15 a.m. ET, 880,447 utility customers were without power in the United States, according to PowerOutage.com.
Tennessee had the most, with more than 287,000 power outages.
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Nashville was the most impacted city in the state and the country, with more than 180,000 residents waking up to no power and thick layers of ice covering roads, sidewalks, and cars.
“The combination of freezing rain and ice has hit our community hard today,” Nashville Electric Service wrote on X Sunday.
“Weighted down by ice, trees are snapping and taking down power lines across the area.”
Texas had around 125,000 and Mississippi had around 140,000 customers without power.
The Texas Department of Transportation urged drivers to stay off the road as their plows worked to remove the snow.
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“An ode to travelers: STAY HOME! And if you can’t, STAY BACK!,” the Texas Department of Transportation wrote in an X post on Sunday morning.
Louisiana, Kentucky, and Georgia had tens of thousands of people without power on Sunday morning as well.
President Donald Trump approved federal emergency disaster declarations on Saturday for South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.
“As severe weather crosses the Volunteer State this weekend, we are grateful for the Trump administration’s efforts to protect and support Tennesseans,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wrote in an X post on Jan. 24.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the storm will rage on with a wintry mix of conditions until Monday.
“Up to eighteen inches will fall over New England, and 0.50 inches of freezing rain over parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio/Tennessee Valleys,” an advisory from the NWS predicted.
The NWS also warned that states in the Eastern Gulf Coast may experience severe thunderstorms that produce damaging gusts and tornadoes on Sunday.
