The United States is experiencing one of the largest winter storms in history, affecting two-thirds of the country. As of Sunday, more than 700,000 homes have been left without electricity, particularly in the southern states. Data from the poweroutage.us website shows significant power outages, especially in Tennessee, where over 244,000 customers are without electricity. The situation is also critical in Texas and Louisiana, where approximately 134,000 and 119,000 households are without power, respectively. Nearly 40,000 outages have been reported in Kentucky, while in Georgia and Alabama, 15,000 and 10,000 homes are without electricity. Virginia has reported over 9,000 outages, North Carolina about 6,500, and West Virginia more than 3,000. No significant power failures have been reported in the cities of Washington and Baltimore. Meanwhile, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has urged residents of more than 20 states that have activated emergency protocols to stay home. She assured that the federal government is cooperating with states and electric companies to expedite power grid repairs as much as possible, even colder temperatures are forecast. The storm, which canceled about 4,000 flights within the US on Saturday, has caused another 10,000 cancellations across the country on Sunday, according to Flightaware. According to many experts, the storm dumped significant amounts of ice and snow in the Mid-Atlantic region after hitting the Midwest and the South of the country. The storm has left streets and roads barely passable from Texas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee to Pennsylvania and New York due to the heavy snow and ice. The even lower temperatures expected in the coming days, with lows on the East Coast on Tuesday around 5°F (-15°C), are keeping authorities on high alert due to the risk of thick ice layers and their impact on essential services and infrastructure.
