At Least 9 Dead After ‘Generational Winter Storm Event’ Hits Southern US
A winter storm swept through the southern United States on Wednesday, resulting in at least nine fatalities. New Orleans, the largest city in Louisiana, experienced its heaviest snowfall since 1948 on Tuesday, with 20 centimeters of snow accumulating in a single day—well above the previous record of 6.9 centimeters, according to a report from weather.com released on Wednesday.
Several other major cities, including Mobile in Alabama and Pensacola in Florida, also reported unprecedented snowfall. The frigid temperatures caused widespread disruptions across the region, leading to the grounding of more than 1,200 flights at major airports from Texas to Florida on Wednesday morning.
Nearly 30 interstates were closed during the storm, forcing many schools, government offices, and businesses to shut down. Several southern states declared a state of emergency. Recorded fatalities include two deaths likely related to the severe weather in Austin, Texas, as well as at least five deaths from a car accident on icy roads in Zavala County, Texas.
Georgia, located in the southeastern United States, and Wisconsin, in the Midwest, each reported one cold-related death during the storm, according to CNN. Governors from Gulf Coast states—including Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi—declared a state of emergency earlier this week in response to this unprecedented storm.
