Power outages, travel disruptions as massive winter storm batters US

A massive winter storm moving across the eastern half of the United States on Tuesday killed four people, knocked out power to over 600,000 homes across the country, and disrupted travel ahead of a brutal freeze expected to blanket the region starting this weekend.

A woman died in Alabama after a tornado struck her mobile home, while another person in North Carolina died in a mobile home park due to severe weather. Two people died in Alabama and Georgia after trees fell on their cars, Axios reported.

The intense storm set a record for the lowest atmospheric pressure in Indianapolis in January, and according to financial firm London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), the storm is coming ahead of what will likely be the nation's "coldest weather since December 2022".

Wind speeds just above the surface are expected to hit record intensities, possibly exceeding 100mph at 1,000 to 4,000 feet above the surface in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, leading to widespread power outages.

Over 600,000 customers were without power across the US overnight, including nearly 190,000 in New York, according to PowerOutage.us.

More than 3,100 flights were delayed and over 1,000 were cancelled early Wednesday following thousands of delays and cancellations the previous day, per FlightAware.

Vice President Kamala Harris' press secretary said on Tuesday night that the severe weather had forced her plane to divert.

Roadways across the US were closed from Tuesday into Wednesday due to extreme weather, including high winds on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Schools in Charlotte, Raleigh, and DC closed early due to flash flood and wind threats. Closures extended into the Carolinas and south to Florida, Axios reported. Meanwhile, schools in New York and New Jersey announced later openings due to flooding and power outage threats.

The National Weather Service's (NWS) Weather Prediction Center noted the storm that's "producing a multitude of significant impacts from the Midwest to the East Coast" would carry over into Wednesday.

There's a "moderate risk" that excessive rainfall would lead to flash and river flooding from Richmond to Boston, per the NWS.

Tornado watches were in effect from Virginia to Tampa, Florida, with at least 15 reported as of early Wednesday. Another powerful winter storm is forecast for late this week into the weekend, followed by a major Arctic outbreak.