US airlines have canceled more than 2,300 flights, with airports in Dallas and Austin hardest hit by deadly ice storms in southern parts of the US since Monday. The storm disrupted travel and caused widespread power outages in Texas.
Dozens of car accidents on slippery roads were reported due to the inclement weather. Six people were declared dead. Freezing rain and ice accumulation are predicted across the region through Thursday.
More than 340,000 people were without power as of Wednesday evening in Texas, with nearly half of the outages in and near Austin, according to the report.
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⚠️ ICE STORM IMPACT STARTS TODAY – ROADS WILL NOT IMPROVE UNTIL WEDNESDAY ⚠️
Full video updates; but in short, we are facing a multi-day/multi-wave winter storm – with the severity improving on Wednesday (into Thursday).
SUMMARY: https://t.co/2cBISfeJiv #txwx @DFWscanner pic.twitter.com/uni3U6vDcS
— Texas Storm Chasers (@TxStormChasers)
January 30, 2023
How did this ice storm start?
- A “prolonged and significant” ice storm is continuing across much of the southern and south-central Plains, according to the National Weather Service.
- The ice storm brought freezing rain and hail to parts of the south-central United States.
- It has spread from Tennessee to Texas since Monday.
- Dallas, Fort Worth, Little Rock and Memphis were hit by ice storms that warned more than 12 million people,
- The agency warned that due to heavy rains in parts of Texas, as well as Louisiana and northern Georgia, flash flooding is possible on Thursday.
- This storm is the result of a cold arctic front moving south, where it comes into contact with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.
- The storm began Monday as part of a stretch of winter rain expected to last through Wednesday across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Ice storm effect
- Classes were canceled in both Dallas and Memphis on Wednesday due to hazardous road conditions.
- Winter weather delayed the start of the funeral for Tire Nichols, of Memphis, the man who died last month after being beaten by police.
- There are several emergency crews in Texas who have responded to hundreds of crash calls since Monday, some of them fatal.
- Texas officials told CNN that a 49-year-old woman also died while driving on icy roads north of Eldorado.
- Some local police departments have urged motorists to drive carefully. The Dallas Police Department asks people to make sure their tires are inflated, slow down on the runway and avoid using cruise control.
I spent a week in January 2023 #Minnesota blizzard and now I’m here #TexasFreezing. Both my Minnesotan boyfriend and I agree that this Texas freeze was much worse. Give me 2 feet of snow over 2 inches of straight ice ANY day. pic.twitter.com/bCFzLLoapc
– Chelsea Simms (@WineAboutLaw)
February 2, 2023
What do officials say about Ice Storm?
- Texas Governor Greg Abbott also asked motorists to “stay off the road if possible.”
- Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency due to freezing weather.
“The grid itself is performing very well as we speak and there aren’t any challenges to the grid in the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “It’s important to remember that local power outages are not a reason to say there’s a problem with the grid.”
Today’s scene in Austin, Texas pic.twitter.com/CTk3hjylz7
– Shane Ware (@shanew21)
February 2, 2023
Ice storm: Bottom line
Winter weather has brought ice to large parts of the US, leaving more than 250,000 customers in Texas without power as of Wednesday morning. Thousands of flights were canceled or postponed on Tuesday and Wednesday, while icy conditions on roads snarled traffic and caused numerous accidents. At least eight deaths in Texas were attributed to the storm.
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Source: pagasa.edu.vn