Winter storm threatens 80m as US south faces heavy snowfall and closures
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Up to 9in of snow expected in Arkansas and Tennessee as climate crisis leads to more frequent extreme weather cases. More than 80 million people across southern US states were on alert on Friday as a powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward.
Some governors have declared a state of emergency as the weather forced school closures across the region and unleashed havoc for traffic. The Arkansas governor, Sarah Sanders, mobilized the national guard to help stranded motorists. School was canceled for millions of children across a wide tract of southern states from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina, while areas as far north as Delaware were experiencing or preparing for dangerous conditions.
Some of the heaviest snowfall was expected on Friday across northern Arkansas and much of Tennessee, with totals in some parts of those states ranging from 6 to 9in, according to the National Weather Service. Farther south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain has made travel treacherous.
The storm dumped as much as 7in in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas before pushing into Arkansas. Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle had its biggest snowfall in 10 years, ABC’s Good Morning America reported. Snow that began falling in the metro Atlanta area before dawn led to hundreds of flights being cancelled and hundreds more delayed at Atlanta’s airport, according to the flight tracking software FlightAware. Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for Georgia. Texas was hit with the most flight cancellations and delays while North Carolina and Tennessee air travelers were also affected.
