Snowstorm barrels into southern US as blast of icy weather widens / Photo: © Gastonia Police Department/AFP
Snowstorm barrels into southern US as blast of icy weather widens
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 Saturday, as authorities urged residents to stay off the roads and warned 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 saw 750 car crashes on Saturday, the highway patrol said.
Faust, North Carolina recorded 14.5 inches (37 cm) of snow, while West Critz, Virginia got 12.5 inches. Harrisburg, Tennessee received more than 9 inches of accumulation.
In the town of Cape Carteret, high winds sent thick snow blowing sideways, promoting the National Weather Service to warn that travel was "Treacherous and Potentially Life-Threatening especially if you become stranded."
In dramatic footage released by the Gastonia, North Carolina police, a train plowed at high speed into a semi-truck that had gotten stuck on the tracks, crushing the vehicle. No one was hurt.
Saturday's storm forced more than 1,000 flight cancellations at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a major hub for American Airlines. A 300-strong "snow team" was working to clear runways, taxiways, roads and sidewalks, the airport said.
More than 600 flights were cancelled 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.
"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 Saturday, mostly in the south, according to poweroutage.us, with Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana hardest hit.
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 of southern state that are vulnerable to storms.
It said oceanfront structures were threatened, and a section of highway that threads through its dunes was closed.
In another southern state, Mississippi, Governor Tate Reeves said the US Army Corps of Engineers helped to install generators at critical sites, and authorities were opening 79 shelters and warming centers across the state.
The freezing weather forced NASA to postpone a key fueling test over the weekend of the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket that is on the Cape Canaveral launch pad in Florida. That in turn is likely to push back by at least a couple of days a planned, manned Moon flyby slated for next month.
H.Gill--VC
