US winter storm shuts down air travel with more than 10,000 flights canceled
A storm is forecast for Sunday and the coming week (Photo: Getty Images)
The US canceled more than 12,000 flights as a powerful winter storm brought ice, snow, and extreme cold this past weekend. In addition, over 100,000 customers lost power, according to Reuters and CBS News.
Weather forecasts predict that two-thirds of the eastern US will experience snow, sleet, and freezing rain on Sunday and into next week, with temperatures dropping below zero.
President Donald Trump described the storms as historic, supporting the federal emergency declarations issued Saturday in response to the severe weather across South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.
“We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm,” President Trump wrote.
According to FlightAware, airlines canceled more than 3,700 flights on Saturday, with cancellations rising to over 8,200 on Sunday. Media outlets note that this is the highest number of cancellations in a single day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
“Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Nashville International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport were among the hardest-hit airports,” CBS reported.
The Department of Homeland Security announced that 17 states and the District of Columbia declared weather-related emergencies.
"We do have tens of thousands of people in affected states in the South that have lost power. We have utility crews that are working to restore that as quick as possible," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said late Saturday afternoon.
However, power outages continued to rise. According to PowerOutage, by 6:30 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, more than 130,000 customers were without electricity, with the majority in Texas and Louisiana.
