Snowy South
In Carolinas, 200,000 without power, 1,300 flights canceled
Winter storm snarls travel, leaves hundreds of thousands without power.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Doug Jones, the emergency management director in Person County, N.C., looked out his office window Sunday evening and marveled at the thick blanket of snow.
“It’s kind of real calming,” said Jones, whose county of rolling hills, farms and forests runs along the Virginia border. “It’s real beautiful.”
That beauty came at a price, though, as a powerful storm plowed across the South this weekend, dumping heavy snow in some areas and sleet and freezing rain in others. Power was knocked out to more than 200,000 customers in North and South Carolina, according to a major utility in the region, forcing people who were left without electricity and heat to stay in hotels and shelters until downed lines can be repaired.
Hundreds of traffic accidents were reported on slick roads across the region, including an incident in Matthews, N.C., in which a falling tree struck a vehicle, causing it to careen into a church and killing the driver, according to local police.
Travel disruptions were widespread. More than 1,100 flights to or from Charlotte Douglas International Airport, a busy hub, had been canceled by Sunday morning because of the storm, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. RaleighDurham International Airport reported more than 200 cancellations. Amtrak also canceled or altered service on a number of trains through Tuesday.
The heaviest snowfalls were in the mountains of western North
Carolina and Virginia and in rural areas along the state line, while major population centers to the Southeast were largely spared.
On its way to North Carolina the storm had barreled across much of the South and left a trail of sloppy conditions all the way back to Lubbock, Texas.
Authorities there warned Sunday that some of the 10.5 inches of snow that had fallen in parts of the city would melt during the day and then refreeze at night, making roads dangerous again.
Lubbock reported more than 60 crashes Saturday night.
Roy Cooper, the governor of North Carolina, declared a state of emergency Friday as the storm approached, and even as the storm began to ebb Sunday, he continued to warn residents not to take unnecessary chances. Cooper said the National Guard had worked overnight to clear traffic accidents on major streets and highways, and noted that a tractor-trailer had slid off a road and into a river.
The dangerous conditions led local governments, including in Wake County, which includes Raleigh, to cancel public school classes on Monday. Duke University also called off classes for the day. Some portions of the county got as much as 14 inches of snow over the weekend, though Raleigh got much less.
The National Weather Service said some additional snowfall in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic was likely through Sunday night as part of a “high-impact winter storm” stretching from northeastern Georgia to central Virginia.
“We expect 1 to 2 inches of snow after 7 p.m. across Virginia and North Carolina,” said Bryan Jackson, a spokesman for the Weather Service. Earlier in the day, he said, there were periods when snow was falling at a rate of 2 inches an hour.
“Snowfall amounts in some locations will likely exceed a foot and result in several days of difficult or impossible travel, extended power outages and downed trees,” the agency said.
The storm was expected to move east into the Atlantic on Monday.
The governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, declared a state of emergency Saturday. “Virginians should take all necessary precautions to ensure they are prepared for winter weather storm impacts,” he said.