Hundreds of thousands are at risk of freezing in the aftermath of the weekend’s massive snowstorm, with an estimated three-quarters of a million homes without power across the country.
Meanwhile, a further tens of thousands more were stranded or unable to travel, with around 4,000 flights canceled nationwide, and the storm’s death toll has now reached 25.
According to the National Weather Service, nearly 180 million people were threatened by widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain in an area spanning the southern Rocky Mountains to New England.
Live data from Find Energy, which tracks power outages, showed that Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee were the most affected by electricity cuts, while Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia also had more than 10,000 customers affected.
Resident Eddie Swords of New Albany, Mississippi, was among those affected, telling CBS News the constant cracking limbs and falling trees sounded “like a firecracker popping.”
Swords said his power was out, but he had a home generator, “thank goodness.” He and a friend had to chainsaw a path in and out of his neighborhood so they could get fuel, and the pair planned to hunker down together, extending an invitation to other locals.
“I told anybody who wants to come down, ‘I got natural gas that’s good and toasted in there right now,'” Swords said.
Lines companies across the affected states reported “catastrophic damage,” warning that power restoration could take “weeks instead of days” for some customers.
On Sunday evening, Mississippi utility company Oxford Utilities pulled its crews off the road altogether due to life-threatening conditions.
“Trees are actively snapping and falling around our linemen while they are in the bucket trucks,” the company said in a statement.
Mississippi’s Department of Transportation has struggled to keep up, road worker John Sanford told CBS News.
“We’re spread thin on equipment here, because there’s so many guys in different directions and we’re out here having to mainly do this where usually we would need a backhoe or bulldozer, something to help move this stuff,” said Sanford.
“One of the guys that worked with us, he couldn’t make it back this morning. He’s got two trees on his house.”
Sanford said the biggest challenges were cold and exhaustion: “You just get physically tired and you know, there’s more and more trees falling, people needing help. The minute you get one cleaned up, another one falls.”
Boston Logan International has so far been the worst-hit airport, with 298 flights canceled on Monday, according to FlightAware, which tracks delays and cancellations.
Six other airports had more than 100 flights cancelled by mid-morning: John F. Kennedy International (263), LaGuardia (241), Newark Liberty International (239), Dallas-Fort Worth International (206), Charlotte/Douglas International (169), and Reagan National (166).
Those cancellations came on the heels of almost 4,000 canceled flights on Saturday and more than 7,600 on Sunday, meaning the number of affected passengers is now well into the tens of thousands.
In a terrifying reminder of the risks, a private aircraft carrying eight people crashed while attempting to take off from Bangor International Airport in Maine on Sunday night during the massive storm. A government official briefed on the incident said the aircraft was engulfed in flames after the crash, and seven people were later confirmed dead.
Another 18 fatalities from Winter Storm Fern have included five who died after being stuck outside in New York City, a Texas man found dead in a gas station parking lot from apparent hypothermia, and a horror sledding accident in Frisco on Sunday, where a 16-year-old girl died when her sled hit a curb and collided with a tree, according to Fox 4 News.
Three people died in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, the county coroner said, ranging in age from 60 to 84.
“I remind the public to use caution when shoveling snow … especially individuals with a history of heart disease or other medical concerns,” the coroner said in a statement published by ABC News.
In Arkansas, a 17-year-old boy died after hitting a tree while being pulled by an ATV in the show, according to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office, while Boston ABC affiliate WCVB reported the death of a Massachusetts woman who died after a snowplow backed into her in a parking lot.
Local officials reported an additional three deaths in Tennessee, two in Louisiana, and one in Kansas.
President Donald Trump has so far approved emergency declarations for a dozen states, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem – who oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency – said supplies, staff and search and rescue teams were being deployed across the country.
“We just ask that everyone would be smart – stay home if possible,” Noem said.
Wind chills in the Midwest have plunged to -40F, a bone-chilling cold that could cause frostbite to set in within minutes.
