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More than 500,000 customers across the United States, as far away as Texas, were without power and more than 9,600 flights were expected to be canceled Sunday in anticipation of a monster winter storm that threatened to paralyze eastern states with heavy snowfall.
Forecasters said snow, sleet, freezing rain and dangerously freezing temperatures would sweep across two-thirds of the eastern United States on Sunday and throughout the week.
Calling the storms “historic,” U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday approved federal disaster emergency declarations in South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and West Virginia.
“We will continue to monitor and stay in contact with all states experiencing this storm. Stay safe and stay warm,” Trump wrote in a message on his Truth Social platform.
Forecasts “paralyzing, even catastrophic at the local level”
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have declared weather emergencies, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
At a news conference Saturday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem warned Americans to take precautions.
“It’s going to be very, very cold,” Noem said. “So we encourage everyone to stock up on fuel and food, and we will get through this together.”
She added: “We have utility crews working to restore this as quickly as possible.”
The number of breakdowns continued to increase. As of 7:23 a.m. ET on Sunday, more than 500,000 U.S. customers were without power, according to PowerOutage.us, including more than 100,000 each in Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee. Other affected states include Louisiana and New Mexico.
Department of Energy orders relief resources
The Department of Energy issued an emergency order Saturday authorizing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities, in an effort to limit power outages in the state.
On Sunday, the department issued an emergency order allowing grid operator PJM Interconnection to operate “specified resources” in the Mid-Atlantic region, regardless of limitations due to state laws or environmental permits.
The U.S. National Weather Service warned of an unusually large and long-lasting winter storm that would bring heavy ice accumulation to the Southeast, where “locally crippling and possibly catastrophic impacts” can be expected.
Weather service forecasters predicted record cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills descending further into the Great Plains region by Monday.
More than 9,600 U.S. flights scheduled for Sunday were canceled, according to flight tracking site FlightAware, and more than 4,000 flights were canceled Saturday.
Airlines and network operators are scrambling to prepare
Major U.S. airlines have warned passengers to stay alert for sudden flight changes and cancellations.
Delta Air Lines adjusted its schedule Saturday, with additional cancellations in the morning for Atlanta and the East Coast, including Boston and New York.
It would move cold-weather experts from the poles to support de-icing and baggage teams at several southern airports, the airline said.
JetBlue said that as of Saturday morning it had canceled about 1,000 flights through Monday. United Airlines said it proactively canceled some flights in locations with the worst weather conditions.
American power grid operators took turns strengthening their precautions on Saturday to avoid power outages.
Dominion Energy, whose Virginia operations include the world’s largest collection of data centers, said that if its ice forecast holds, the winter event could be one of the largest affecting the company.
