Once-In-A-Generation Winter Storm Hits Southern United States
Snow in Florida, U.S., Jan. 21. 2025. X/ @DeccanChronicle
January 22, 2025 Hour: 8:02 am
Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi issued ‘State of Emergency’ to address the storm
On Tuesday, From Texas to Louisiana and Florida, a wide swath of southern United States braced for a once-in-a-generation winter storm with heavy snow, sleet and ice, which created hazardous travel conditions for the region unaccustomed to bitterly cold weather.
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Up to 235 million Americans were affected by the storm, which the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) described as “a generational winter storm event.”
For the first time, the NWS issued a blizzard warning for parts of southern Louisiana and far eastern Texas where heavy snow and strong wind gusts combined to create whiteout conditions. Roads overnight would be “extremely hazardous if not impossible for much of the area, and travel is highly discouraged,” the NWS warned.
Schools, government offices, as well as many shops and restaurants were closed across the region. Numerous roads were covered with snow and some with ice mix. Wind chills made temperatures drop into the teens for much of the Gulf Coast with single-digit values in northern Texas.
More than 2,100 flights into or out of affected airports across the region, most coming from Texas and Louisiana, were canceled. A number of airports in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida also suspended operations due to the storm.
Large sections of Interstate 10 in Texas and Louisiana, the Gulf Coast states’ major thoroughfare, were closed Tuesday due to treacherous conditions. Houston, the biggest city in Texas, recorded widespread three to six inches of snow while more than half a foot of snow had fallen by Tuesday afternoon in parts of southern Louisiana.
In one location just north of Rayne, Louisiana, 10.5 inches of snow had been recorded before noon, said CNN, adding that snow even covered sandy beaches along Texas’ coast. Governors of Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi issued “state of emergency” to address the storm.
“Our infrastructure is designed differently than states that are used to this (winter weather),” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, warning that driving in icy conditions can be very hazardous.
“Most of us haven’t experienced this combination of bitter cold and significant snow ever in our lifetime,” Louisiana climatologist Jay Grymes said Monday.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua
