By Georgina McCartney and Brendan O’Brien
HOUSTON (Reuters) – A rare winter storm hit the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday, bringing heavy snow, ice and gusty winds to a region where gusts are unusual, while much of the United States remained in a dangerously frozen zone. .
As the storm moved east, crews near Houston were clearing roads, while downtown streets, covered in white, were virtually deserted during the morning rush hour.
In downtown Houston, few people ventured out into the snow while some restaurants and bars remained closed. The Houston Metro train was running but passengers were scarce. Schools were closed Tuesday and Wednesday because the city expected about four inches (10 cm) of snow to fall.
“I’ve been in Texas my whole life and I’ve never seen so much snow,” said Ishan Bhaidani, 29, owner of a financial technology consulting company in Houston. “Usually it gets more icy, but this kind of fine snow is the first time.”
Houston authorities are investigating two possible weather-related deaths, including a homeless man who was found dead near an apartment complex, the Harris County sheriff said in X.
Snow was also falling in New Orleans, where up to eight inches was expected to accumulate by the end of the day, threatening to tie a record set in 1895. The last time the city received measurable snowfall was in 2009, according to the National Weather Service.
“Stay home and stay off the roads,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said, bundled up as winds whipped snow into her face in a video message to X Street residents.
The storm is expected to move through Mississippi, Georgia and Florida early this week. Up to five inches of snow was forecast for Mobile, Alabama, where such accumulations had not been seen in more than 60 years, according to the NWS.
A blizzard warning was in effect for 31 million people, from southern Texas east through Georgia and north to the Carolinas and Virginia, from Tuesday through Wednesday morning, the service said.
Hundreds of flights in and out of the region’s airports were delayed or canceled Tuesday morning. According to Flightaware.com, about 960 flights to or from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport were canceled.
Temperatures were expected to drop to single digits Fahrenheit, well below freezing, across the region on Tuesday. Forecasters and local leaders urged residents to protect themselves from freezing and take steps to prevent water mains from bursting.
Across the South, the snow, combined with an inch of ice accumulation and wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour (64 kph), could make road and air travel difficult for several days, while threatening to down power lines and trees, according to meteorologists. saying.
In Southeast Texas, about 30,000 homes and businesses were without power, according to Poweroutage.us.
“While we experienced some isolated outages, our system overall remained stable,” CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:), which supplies electricity to the Houston area, said in a statement.
Texas ports and pilots, who help guide ships, suspended some operations Monday as frigid weather hit the state.
Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery, Alabama, opened warming centers and closed government offices in anticipation of the storm. According to local news, numerous school districts canceled classes.
To the north, most of the eastern two-thirds of the United States were experiencing brutally cold temperatures as an arctic front was expected to persist through at least Tuesday.
It was -5 degrees Fahrenheit (-21 degrees Celsius) in Chicago, 5 F in Cleveland and 11 F in New York City, the NWS said. Those morning readings were mild compared to the -39 F (-39 C) recorded near Grand Lake, Colorado, the coldest place in the US, on Tuesday morning.