Winter storm in Deep South prompts state of emergency declarations and school closures

A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward into southern US states overnight, prompting governors to declare states of emergency and shuttering schools across the region.Arkansas Gov.Sarah Sanders mobilized the National Guard to help stranded motorists.School was canceled Friday for millions of children across many southern states from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina.Some of the heaviest snowfall was expected Friday across the northern half of Arkansas and much of Tennessee, with totals in some parts of those states ranging from 6 to 9 inches, according to the National Weather Service.Further south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain made travel treacherous.The storm dumped as much as 7 inches in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas before pushing into Arkansas.More than 4,500 flights were delayed and another 2,000 canceled on Thursday, with more delays and cancelations expected on Friday.“I have not seen any accidents, but I have seen a couple of people get stuck out on the road and sliding around,” said Charles Daniel, a truck driver hauling a 48-foot trailer loaded with paint, auto parts and other supplies through slick, slushy roads in central Oklahoma on Thursday.“People do not need to be driving,” Daniel added.The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the US, Europe and Asia.Experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.Paul Kirkwood, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the storm that swept through the Dallas area will create a “swath of snow” impacting parts of Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina.Texas Gov.

Greg Abbott urged re...

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Publisher: New York Post

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