World News
13,000 Flights Cancelled as Massive Winter Storm Freezes US, Leaves Thousands Without Power
A powerful winter storm brought travel chaos and widespread disruption across the United States over the weekend, forcing the cancellation of nearly 13,000 flights, knocking out power to thousands of homes and coating roads with dangerous ice.
A powerful winter storm brought travel chaos and widespread disruption across the United States over the weekend, forcing the cancellation of nearly 13,000 flights, knocking out power to thousands of homes and coating roads with dangerous ice.
Officials said about 140 million people — over 40 per cent of the US population — were under winter storm warnings stretching from New Mexico to New England.
The National Weather Service forecast heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from Saturday through Monday, warning residents to prepare for prolonged freezing conditions that could slow recovery efforts.
“The snow and the ice will be very, very slow to melt and won’t be going away anytime soon,” said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “That’s going to hinder recovery.”
Emergency declarations, power cuts
President Donald Trump approved emergency declarations for at least a dozen states, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deployed staff, supplies and rescue teams to vulnerable regions.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urged caution, saying, “We just ask that everyone be smart and stay home if possible.”
More than 120,000 power outages were reported along the storm’s path, including around 50,000 each in Texas and Louisiana, according to outage monitoring data.
In Texas’ Shelby County, ice-laden pine trees snapped and brought down power lines, leaving nearly a third of the county’s 16,000 residents without electricity.
“We have hundreds of trees down and a lot of limbs in the road,” said County Commissioner Stevie Smith. “It’s a lot to deal with right now.”
Similar damage was reported in parts of Louisiana, where ice-covered branches fell onto roads, vehicles and homes.
Air travel paralysed
Air travel took a major hit, with FlightAware reporting about 13,000 cancellations across Saturday and Sunday.
Several major airports faced severe disruptions:
- All Saturday flights cancelled at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers International Airport
- Over 700 departures cancelled at Dallas-Fort Worth
- Major delays in Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte
- Nearly all Sunday departures cancelled at Washington’s Reagan National Airport
Airlines struggled to restart schedules as ice and snow accumulated on runways.
Biggest ice storm in years
Southern and eastern states braced for what officials described as one of the worst ice storms in over a decade.
Georgia authorities advised residents to stay off roads for at least 48 hours. The state deployed 1,800 road workers to treat highways with brine.
“Ice is a whole different ballgame than snow,” said senior meteorologist Will Lanxton. “You can’t drive on it, and it’s much more likely to bring down trees and power lines.”
After sweeping the South, the storm is expected to dump 1–2 feet (30–60 cm) of snow across parts of the Northeast, including Washington, New York and Boston.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged residents to stay indoors. “Avoid travel and keep yourself and your loved ones safe,” he said.
Bone-chilling cold grips Midwest
The Midwest faced extreme cold, with wind chills dropping to minus 40°C, increasing the risk of frostbite within minutes. Rhinelander, Wisconsin, recorded its coldest temperature in nearly three decades.
Meteorologists described the storm as unusual due to its vast scale.
“You’ve got nearly 2,000 miles of the country being impacted by snow, sleet and freezing rain,” said Josh Weiss of NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center.
