At least 34 people have died and more than 500,000 power outages were still reported on Tuesday (January 27) amid a massive winter storm combining snow, ice and freezing temperatures over the weekend.
Deaths were reported in 14 different states including one each in Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina and New Jersey; two in Arkansas, Massachusetts and Mississippi; three in Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana; four in Tennessee; and nine in New York. Cold temperatures are forecast to continue through the week, leading to more concerns about individuals without power or means of shelter. A total 554,164 U.S. customers were reported to be without power as of 8:00 a.m. ET, which included 173,697 in Tennessee, the most of any state, followed by Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, according to Poweroutage.us.
Nashville Electric Service, which had more outages than any electric company in the entire United States, issued a statement claiming the event “peaked at 230,000 outages,” which was its highest number since derecho windstorms in May 2020. President Donald Trump approved 12 federal emergency disaster declarations for Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Sunday (January 25).
“It is rare that storms combine this much snow, ice and bitter cold over such a large area — a widespread travel-halting winter storm will stall daily life for days in large portions of the central and eastern U.S.,” said Evan Myers of AccuWeather.
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