Rare winter storm grips US South, kills at least five people

Photo credit: Reuters

Icicles are seen forming on a fountain during winter at Jackson Square Park in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Austin, Texas:  A rare winter storm gripped the U.S. South on Wednesday, killing five people, stranding children overnight at their schools, gnarling traffic across many states and canceling flights at the world's busiest airport.

At least five deaths in Alabama were blamed on the icy storm that slammed the region from Texas through Georgia and the Carolinas.

Forecasters predicted little relief from the ice on Wednesday, with temperatures unlikely to rise much above freezing for long enough to thaw roads and bridges, before freezing again early Thursday across the Southeast.

"We are all in this together and we will get through it together," read a statement from police in Anniston, Alabama. "What was to be a simple dusting (of snow) has turned into something more. None of us were prepared."

Airlines canceled thousands of flights from Houston to Atlanta, with some 500 alone halted early Wednesday at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport.

The wintry mix of snow, sleet and ice had moved further to the southeast Wednesday, to southeast Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, according to forecasters at The Weather Channel.

In Virginia, up to 10 inches of snow fell overnight in some parts of the state, said meteorologists at Accuweather.com. Two inches of sleet pelted North Carolina by Wednesday morning.

Sections of major roadways remained closed in Louisiana near New Orleans, including the 24-mile Causeway Bridge spanning Lake Pontchartrain.

Authorities rescued about 50 schoolchildren in Atlanta, whose buses were stranded overnight on an icy roadway, district officials said.

Hundreds of other students remained sheltered in schools and other locations, their parents unable to reach them after being stuck in an epic traffic snarl that continued for more than 12 hours along the I-75 highway and nearby roadways.

At E. Rivers Elementary School in Atlanta, 95 students were stranded and stayed overnight on Tuesday, Principal Matt Rogers told Reuters.

"We're feeding them, we're watching movies, eating pizza," he told Reuters early Wednesday. "We just had breakfast. It's like a sleepover."

Their overnight adventure was shared by two parents who were unable to leave after they had arrived to pick up their children, he said.

"I had some parents who were in their cars for seven hours to go seven miles," Rogers said.

In Birmingham, Alabama, about 800 students remained stranded in their schools early Wednesday, Birmingham Mayor William Bell said. Teachers stayed with them, giving them food and water, he said.

"We realize that is not good enough for parents who want to hold their children in their arms," Bell said. "We are doing all we can to reunite children with their parents."

One day after storm, Atlanta highways still gridlock

Traffic is at a standstill on the southbound lanes as the northbound side is a empty sheet of ice in Atlanta.

Atlanta:  Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal says there are no more students stranded on buses in the winter storm gridlock, but there are still thousands of kids who spent the night at schools.

Deal said Wednesday those children will get escorts home from National Guard vehicles or police. Authorities are also going out to give people stranded on the icy highways food, water, blankets and gas.

It's still not clear exactly how many people are stranded or when the clogged highways might clear. The city, along with much of the Deep South, became paralyzed Tuesday when a winter storm dumped snow, sleet and rain on the roads and they froze over. For NDTV Updates,

Deadly US ice storm turns Atlanta into parking lot, strands thousands

A car sits in a ditch along with other abandoned cars after running off the roadway due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia, January 29, 2014

Atlanta:  A rare ice storm turned Atlanta into a slippery mess on Wednesday, stranding thousands for hours on frozen roadways and raising questions about how city leaders prepared for and handled the cold snap that slammed the U.S. South.

The storm, which has killed at least seven people, on Tuesday swept over a region of about 60 million largely unaccustomed to ice and snow - stretching from Texas through Georgia and into the Carolinas - and forecasts called for more freezing weather on Thursday.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed came under fire for his response to a storm that trapped hundreds of children in schools overnight, some without provisions, and created traffic jams stretching for miles on roads coated with two inches of snow.

"Folks are angry with the mayor of Atlanta, with the governor," said Flavia DiCesare, 54, who spent the night in her office at Cox Enterprises in Atlanta, about 30 miles from home.

The mayor said schools, businesses and government offices were partly to blame for sending all the workers home just as the storm was rolling in.

"During the day, we have a million to 1.2 million people in this city and all those people were out in very bad weather. It hampered our ability to get our equipment on the ground and to prepare our roads for that," Reed told a news conference.

"The error - and we have shared responsibility for the error - the error was letting everybody out at once," he said.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said all of Atlanta's school children had been safely returned to their families by Wednesday evening, with help from the National Guard and State Patrol.

The one-day snowfall of 2.6 inches ranked as the 20th heaviest in Atlanta, which has recorded a daily snowfall of an inch or more 55 times since 1928, according to the National Weather Service.

The city's highways became parking lots and thousands of motorists, still stuck 24 hours after the storm hit, were seeking help and food. Workers who couldn't get home were setting up makeshift accommodations in stores and offices.

The roads, littered with stranded cars, looked like a scene from the television show "Walking Dead", said DiCesare, who spent the night in her office with about 100 other employees.

"It looks like zombies walking on the side of these roads," she said.

About 800 traffic accidents were reported in the city, but there were no serious injuries, officials said. At least five deaths in Alabama and two in Georgia were blamed on the weather.

Latasha Wade, 38, said she was awaiting word of her 31-year-old brother, last heard from Tuesday night after his car was stranded in Atlanta.

"I don't know if he's laying out in the snow or what," she said. "It's the most hurtful thing because I don't know anything that's going on with my brother."

The storm took a toll on air travel across the region, with more than 2,600 U.S. flights canceled and hundreds of others delayed, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com.

In southern Louisiana, the ice and cold were the worst the region has seen in a decade.

Near New Orleans, sections of major roadways were closed, including the 24-mile Causeway Bridge spanning Lake Pontchartrain, and nearly a full day of flights were canceled at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Across the South, authorities appeared caught off guard by Tuesday's storm, and were left to cope with its aftermath on Wednesday.

In Birmingham, Alabama, authorities said a lack of warning about the treacherous conditions led to thousands being stuck on roads, in shelters and in schools on Tuesday night. Snow-clearing vehicles were initially directed south of the city, where the icy conditions were expected to hit.

"We proceeded to have school and have people go to their jobs," Mayor William Bell said. "When it came, it was too late."

About 800 students were stranded overnight in Birmingham schools.

Forecasters predicted little relief to the unusual cold blast, with temperatures due to dip below freezing again across the Southeast early on Thursday. That could hinder efforts to clear ice-covered roads across the region.

Nicole Lynch, 22, a student at Kennesaw State University, was among the Atlanta motorists who found themselves stuck in frustrating traffic snarls.

"They should have at least warned any sort of road crew, or taken some precautions. They should have canceled school a lot sooner than they did," Lynch said. "It's a lot of shudda, cudda, wuddas."

A Facebook page called "Stranded Motorists Help Jan 28, 2014" which has more than 10,000 members, amassed entries from frustrated drivers and volunteers trying to come to their aid after the daylong gridlock in the Atlanta metro area.

Rachel Richter, 30, said she finally abandoned her car, after sitting in a traffic jam for six hours.

"It was more the frustration that it was just complete gridlock. Nothing was moving at all," she said. "You moved like an inch in two hours."