ATLANTA
(AP) -- Small armies of utility workers labored to turn the lights -
and the heat - back on for hundreds of thousands of Southerners as a
winter storm that left them without power threatened major cities
further up the East Coast.
The
Deep South remained a world of ice-laden trees and driveways early
Thursday after several unusual days of sleet and snow brought by a
powerful system that could bring more than a foot of snow to such
metropolises as Philadelphia, Washington and Boston.
At
least 12 deaths across the South have been blamed on the stormy weather
and nearly 3,300 flights nationwide were canceled with another day of
complicated air and road travel ahead Thursday, particularly in the
Northeast.
Drivers
in and around Raleigh, N.C., became snarled Wednesday in huge traffic
jams and abandoned cars in scenes reminiscent of motorist woes in
Atlanta during a storm two weeks earlier. In Atlanta, many streets were
eerily quiet this storm, with drivers heeding dire warnings to stay off
the roads. State troopers say they worked more than 200 crashes in
Georgia.
For
some on slick, snow-covered interstates in North Carolina, commutes
that should take minutes lasted hours after many got on the highways
just as soon as snow and sleet began at midday.
And
in South Carolina, more accustomed to occasional hurricanes, some could
only relate the damage from ice-snapped tree limbs to that of bygone
Hurricane Hugo. Even normally balmy Myrtle Beach, where millions of
visitors cavort each summer, cars were coated in thick ice that also
frosted palm trees and kiddie rides by the shore.
"I
hate driving on this," grumbled South Carolina resident Mindy Taylor,
43, on her way for rock salt, kitty litter or anything else to melt the
ice. "Hopefully it'll warm up by the weekend and it will all melt. I'm
ready for Spring."
In
Alabama, forecasters gleefully spoke of weekend temperatures reaching
the 60s after inches of snow or sleet in its northern parts.
The
snow, sleet and freezing rain that iced Southern highways also knocked
out electricity to more than half a million homes and business as it
advanced Thursday up the Interstate 95 corridor to the winter-weary
Mid-Atlantic states.
Some
Southerners who two weeks ago reveled in the so-called "snow jam"
sounded tired this time of sleet and ice encasing highways, trees and
even the tombstones of a cemetery replete with Confederate graves.
Bethany
Lanier, 32, was walking in a mostly empty square in the Atlanta suburb
of Decatur with Lindsay Futterman, a 30-year-old charter school teacher
as they debated whether to get a drink at a pub.
If
classes are canceled Friday, the charter school students will have
missed nine days of school. To make up days, administrators have
canceled a three-day break.
"Now, we're out because we have cabin fever," Lanier said as Futterman added: "It's kind of annoying now."
Many
Southerners took to makeshift sleds on the ice and snow, with at least
seven people hospitalized in sledding accidents just in Georgia. Four
people were hurt sledding in a kayak that crashed into a pole, said Fire
Chief Ricky Pruit in Cleveland, Ga. One victim suffered leg injuries,
another was knocked unconscious and lost several teeth and the other two
refused treatment, he said.
Ice
combined with wind gusts up to 30 mph snapped tree limbs and power
lines. More than 200,000 homes and businesses lost electricity in
Georgia, South Carolina had about 245,000 outages, and North Carolina
around 100,000. Some people could be in the dark for days.
As he did for parts of Georgia, President Barack Obama declared a disaster in South Carolina, opening the way for federal aid.
For
the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, the heavy weather was the latest in
an unending drumbeat of storms that have depleted cities' salt supplies
and caused school systems to run out of snow days.
Washington,
D.C., could see around 8 inches of snow, as could Boston. New York City
could receive 6 inches. The Philadelphia area could get a foot or more,
and Portland, Maine, may see 8 or 9 inches.
In
Atlanta, which was caught badly unprepared by the last storm, area
schools announced even before the first drop of sleet fell that they
would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Schools were also closed for
Thursday. Many businesses in the corporate capital of the South shut
down, too.
The
scene was markedly different from the one Jan. 28, when thousands of
children were stranded all night in schools by less than 3 inches of
snow and countless drivers abandoned their cars after getting stuck in
bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours and hours.
"I
think some folks would even say they were a little trigger-happy to go
ahead and cancel schools (Tuesday), as well as do all the preparation
they did," said Matt Altmix, who was out walking his dog in Atlanta on
Wednesday. "But it's justified."
North
Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory urged people to charge their cellphones and
find batteries for radios and flashlights because the storm could bring
nearly a foot of snow in places such as Charlotte.
"Stay
smart. Don't put your stupid hat on at this point in time. Protect
yourself. Protect your family. Protect your neighbors," McCrory said.
In
a warning issued early Wednesday, the National Weather Service called
the storm across the South "catastrophic ... crippling ... paralyzing
... choose your adjective."
Meteorologist Eli Jacks noted that three-quarters of an inch of ice would be catastrophic anywhere.
However,
the South is particularly vulnerable: Many trees are allowed to hang
over power lines for the simple reason that people don't normally have
to worry about ice and snow snapping off limbs.
Three
people were killed when an ambulance careened off an icy West Texas
road and caught fire. On Tuesday, four people died in weather-related
traffic accidents in North Texas, including a Dallas firefighter who was
knocked from an I-20 ramp and fell 50 feet. In Mississippi, two traffic
deaths were reported as well as in North Carolina.
Also, a Georgia man apparently died of hypothermia after spending hours outside during the storm, a coroner said.
