As a historic winter storm engulfs the US, at least 18 states in America have declared a state of emersgency so far. With destructive ice and heavy snow set to consume the country, the Weather Company forecasters in the US have predicted that over 230 million Americans could be affected by what they are now calling the “catastrophic” Winter Storm Fern.
As of now, the 18 American states to have declared a state of emergency are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington DC.
Areas worst hit by Winter Storm Fern
According to the ice forecast reported by ABC News, the South is bracing for the biggest dangers from the storm. And so, the worst could hit Dallas, Little Rock in Arkansas, Memphis in Tennessee, Nashville in Tennessee, north of the Atlanta area, Charlotte in North Carolina, Raleigh in North Carolina, Roanoke in Virginia and Washington, DC.
Massive and heavy layers of snow spanning nearly 1,500 miles from Oklahoma City to Boston are expected, as per NBC Miami’s report. Furthermore, several locations across the interior Northeast are projected to get 12 to 19 inches of snow.
The US report further suggested that Oklahoma City could end up getting 12 to 14 inches of snow. Meanwhile, Louisville is expected to be hit with 10 to 14 inches of snow, thereby closing in on historic thresholds for its peak snowfall rankings, as per NBC Miami.
Cities like Tulsa, Cincinnati, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, Albany, Hartford, Providence and Boston are all included in the zone of major snowfall. On the flip side, communities like St Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are projected to see significant but somewhat lower snowfall.
The resulting ice could ultimately give way to widespread power outages, thereby creating extremely dangerous travel conditions and slippery roads that could last for days on end.
US winter storm: What are authorities saying?
According to an internal planning document seen by ABC News, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was preparing resources ahead of the storm, including prepositioning supplies and equipment.
As part of the reported effort, FEMA is staging 250,000 meals, 400,000 litres of water and 30 generators at Camp Minden in Louisiana. The agency has also activated the National Response Coordination Centre, while incident management teams are on standby, as per ABC News.
US President Donald Trump also revealed that he had been brief on the winter storm issue. In a Truth Social post, he added that FEMA is “fully prepared to respond.”
“I have been briefed on the Record Cold Wave and Historic Winter Storm that will be hitting much of the United States this weekend. The Trump Administration is coordinating with State and Local Officials. FEMA is fully prepared to respond. Stay Safe and Stay Warm!”
On Friday (US time), Mayor Muriel Bowser said Washington DC was preparing for the “largest snowfall we’ve seen in a long time.”
Bowser tweeted on X, “Current projections have at least nine inches of snow falling, with the potential for more. There is a possibility of freezing rain overnight Sunday into Monday, which will increase hazardous conditions.” She also revealed that the city was “requesting vehicle support from the D.C. National Guard to ensure our first responders are able to move around.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Oden, Dallas’s director of emergency management and crisis response, told CNN that residents should maintain adequate food, medicine and supplies that will carry them through four or five days. He asserted that Dallas residents should brace themselves to “hunker down, maybe until as late as Wednesday, and hold out while the weather goes through.”
Massive winter storm flight cancellations
As two-thirds of the US population faces a monster winter storm, crippling icy conditions have resulted in the cancelation of thousands of flights.
Sunday became the worst day for US flight cancellations in the past years. It overtook a previous record set by Saturday’s numbers.
According to FlightAware, more than 8,300 flights have been cancelled through Sunday. Cancellations are only expected to climb further as more than half of all Americans will experience sub zero wind chills in the next week. As per ABC News, Dallas-Fort Worth is sitting atop the list of airports with the most cancelled flights this weekend.
Consequently, offices of the federal government in the DC region will also remain shut on Monday, Kupor, director of the Office of Personnel Management announced on X.