Climate
Winter storm ices roads, leaves 200,000 on East Coast without power
Not a single part of the East Coast was left untouched by the winter storm.
January 17, 2022 9:14am
Updated: January 17, 2022 2:56pm
Some 200,000 East Coasters were left without power on Monday, following a major winter storm that swept across the country over the weekend depositing snow and freezing rain in its path.
Thousands of holiday weekend flights were also canceled as the country contended with extreme weather conditions.
Two people were reported dead in North Carolina on Sunday following a vehicle accident on Interstate 95 due to icy and wet conditions.
Another incident occurred when a tractor-trailer slid off of North Carolina Highway 147 and hung from a bridge. The truck's driver was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover. Parts of the Carolinas received about 10 inches of snow.
Even down in Florida, several tornadoes that came about due to the storm destroyed about 25 homes in Lee County on the Gulf Coast, though no deaths have been reported.
More than 60,000 customers in the Carolinas alone were left without power, while tens of thousands more homes in Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York were also impacted.
The governors of Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina declared states of emergency as the storm hit, telling residents to stay off the roads. "It’s going to be treacherous in a lot of parts of our state," said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R).
The storm is expected to make its way into Southeastern Canada by Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, but not before producing significant snowfall across the Lower Great Lakes and Central Appalachian mountains on Monday.