A massive winter storm moving through Atlanta and parts of the South is knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of residents, as sleet, snow and freezing rain are sending trees crashing into power lines.
By early morning, freezing rain started falling in Atlanta, covering cars and road signs with ice, according to MyFoxAtlanta.com. The National Weather service is predicting 3 to 5 inches of snow Wednesday in cities including Atlanta, Marietta, Lawrenceville and Decatur, and heavier snow in portions of northern Georgia.
More than 200,000 homes and businesses across the region were without power as of early Wednesday afternoon, many of them in theAtlanta area. Forecasters are warning that relief with warmer temperatures wasn't expected until Thursday at the earliest.
The icy conditions have also forced the cancellations of thousands of flights across the country, including nearly 70 percent of flights heading in and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International airport, the busiest in the nation.
By Wednesday morning, more than 3,300 flights had been canceled, according to the tracking website FlightAware.com
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Southwest Airlines spokesman Brad Hawkins says Southwest and AirTran have canceled all flights departing from Atlanta on Wednesday, and added that the airlines are hoping to resume normal operations on Thursday morning.
Amtrak is suspending trains between New York and several destinations in the South and the auto train between Washington's northern Virginia suburbs and Orlando, Fla.
Atlanta’s bus service is also canceled for the day and local area trains are operating on reduced schedules.
In an early Wednesday memo, the National Weather Service called the storm "an event of historical proportions."
It continued: "Catastrophic ... crippling ... paralyzing ... choose your adjective."
From Texas to the Carolinas, roads Wednesday are slick with ice across other parts of the South as a wintry mix is falling in many areas. The Mid-Atlantic region also is expected to be hit as the storm crawls east.
Around the Deep South, slick roads were causing problems. In North Texas, at least four people died in traffic accidents on icy roads, including a Dallas firefighter who was knocked from an Interstate 20 ramp and fell 50 feet, according to a police report.
In northeastern Alabama, two National Guard wreckers were dispatched to help clear jackknifed 18-wheelers on Interstate 65. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said one lesson learned from the storm two weeks ago was to get those wreckers organized earlier.
Parts of northeast Mississippi could see up to 4 inches of snow. South Carolina, which hasn't seen a major ice storm in nearly a decade, could get a quarter to three-quarters of an inch of ice and as much as 8 inches of snow in some areas.
Prior to the storm, elected leaders and emergency management officials began warning people to stay off the roads, especially after two inches of snowfall caused an icy gridlock two weeks ago that left thousands stranded in their vehicles overnight in areas like Atlanta. It appeared many in the region around the state's capital obliged as the streets and highways of metro Atlanta were uncharacteristically unclogged Tuesday.
The few that ventured out Wednesday walked to the pharmacy, rode the train or walked their dogs.
"Even in the snow, you still have to do your business," said Matt Altmix, of Atlanta, who took out his Great Dane, Stella. "After the first snow, we kind of got our snow excitement out of the way. But now it's more the drudgery of pushing on."
Stinging drops of sleet fell, punctuated by strong wind gusts, and a layer of ice crusted car windshields. Slushy sidewalks made even short walking trips treacherous. One emergency crew had to pull over to wait out the falling snow before slowly making its way back to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency's special operations center.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in a news conference at the Georgia Emergency Management Agency's special operations center Tuesday evening implored people to get somewhere safe and stay there.
Wednesday’s forecast in Atlanta drew comparisons to an ice storm in the Atlanta area in 2000 that left more than 500,000 homes and businesses without power and an epic storm in 1973 that caused an estimated 200,000 outages for several days. In 2000, damage estimates topped $35 million.
But the Atlanta area and other parts of the South are particularly vulnerable because there are so many trees and limbs hanging over power lines. When the ice builds up on them, limbs snap and fall, knocking out power.
"There is no doubt that this is one of Mother Nature's worst kinds of storms that can be inflicted on the South, and that is ice. It is our biggest enemy," Gov. Deal said.
Ahead of the storm, more than 200 utility vehicles from Florida, North Carolina and other Southern states gathered in a parking lot near one of the grandstands at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The state had more than 22,000 tons of salt, 70,000 gallons of brine 45,000 tons of gravel and brought in 180 tons of additional salt and sand. The goal was to make sure at least two interstate lanes were available in each direction. Then material would be used on the most heavily used roads off the highways. Officials were also considering re-routing traffic in extreme circumstances.
Hundreds of Georgia National Guard troops were also on standby in case evacuations were needed at hospitals or nursing homes, and more than 70 shelters were set to open. President Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia, ordering federal agencies to help the state and local response during the storm. Deal said a priority for that request was generators.
State and local officials, chastened by tough criticism for their slow response to the Jan. 28 storm, were eager to prove they could handle winter storms.
Atlanta has a painful past of being ill-equipped to deal with snowy weather. Despite officials' promises after a crippling ice storm in 2011, the Jan. 28 storm proved they still had many kinks to work out.
As was the case in that storm, the hazardous conditions weren't expected to last. Temperatures were forecast to be in the 50s by the weekend.
But more snow will blanket parts of the South heading into Thursday as the storm moves north. Parts of South Carolina could see up to 9 inches of snow, according to Fox Carolina.
At a grocery store in Greenville, S.C., Judy Roberts, 37, stocked up on bread, milk, chips and drinks before settling in at home with her children, who she predicted would be off school for several days.
"I don't like driving in snow. But it's beautiful," she said. "You have to make the best of it."
In Greenville, auto mechanic Chris Robinson also headed to Home Depot for batteries and other basic supplies. When wintry weather hit two weeks ago, he stocked up on a shovel and rock salt in anticipation of another round.
"Between the cold and the snow, this has been the longest winter," Robinson, 41, said. "We need a break."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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