A catastrophic winter storm has plunged the eastern United States into a state of emergency, triggering what officials are calling historic disruptions to power infrastructure and transportation networks. The massive weather system, delivering a dangerous combination of snow, sleet, and freezing rain across two-thirds of the nation, has left more than one million customers without electricity and forced the cancellation of over 10,000 flights.
PowerOutage.us data revealed extensive blackouts stretching from the Southeast to the Southwest, with Tennessee experiencing the most severe impact at approximately 330,000 customers without power. Mississippi and Louisiana each reported over 100,000 outages, while Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia, and Alabama faced significant electrical infrastructure failures.
The aviation sector experienced unprecedented disruptions, with FlightAware reporting more than 10,800 cancelled flights on Sunday alone. Major airports including New York’s metropolitan facilities, Philadelphia International, and Charlotte Douglas International saw cancellation rates exceeding 80%. Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport suspended all operations entirely.
Delta Air Lines implemented emergency measures, operating a reduced schedule and deploying cold-weather experts from northern hubs to assist with de-icing operations at southern airports. The airline cited ‘real-time frozen precipitation and afternoon storm conditions’ as continuing challenges.
The National Weather Service issued grave warnings of ‘bitterly cold temperatures and dangerously cold wind chills’ extending from the Southern Plains to the Northeast. Forecasters predicted accumulation of up to 18 inches of snow in New England regions, with freezing rain expected across much of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Federal and state authorities mobilized emergency responses, with President Donald Trump approving federal disaster declarations for twelve states. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed seventeen states and the District of Columbia had declared weather emergencies.
Energy Secretary officials authorized emergency measures for grid operators, allowing bypass of environmental restrictions to maintain critical power supply. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned of particular vulnerability to power lines due to accumulating ice, noting ‘this ice that has fallen will keep those lines heavy, even if they haven’t gone down immediately.’
Dominion Energy, which operates Virginia’s extensive data center network, indicated the storm could rank among the most significant winter events in the company’s history if current ice accumulation forecasts prove accurate.