NASHVILLE — A powerful storm hit the East Coast on Saturday, and meteorologists warned of high winds, flooding and heavy snow, including in some southeastern coastal communities that are more accustomed to hurricanes than snowstorms. Temperatures dropped even as tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – whose official seal is sun, palm trees and seagulls – 6 inches (15 cm) of snow was expected. Mayor Mark Croya said the city does not have snow removal equipment, and authorities plan to “use what we can find.”
The weather is below zero It was expected in February, with Heavy snow In the Carolinas, Virginia, and northeast Georgia over the weekend, including up to a foot (30 cm) in parts of North Carolina. Snow was also said to be possible from Maryland to Maine.
Meteorologists said on Saturday night and Sunday morning that winds and snow could lead to a snowstorm before the storm moves to the sea.
The extreme cold was expected to plunge in South to Florida.
Temperatures approached the teens (minus 10 degrees Celsius) in Nashville, Tennessee, and frustrations mounted for those who spent a week without power.
Terry Miles, a 59-year-old construction worker whose home has been without power since an earlier storm hit Sunday, resorted to using a fish fryer to keep warm and worried about the danger of carbon monoxide.
“I risk killing myself and my wife, because – why?” Miles said after attending a Nashville Electric Service news conference aimed at showcasing the utility’s repairs to poles and lines. Then he pointed to the officials.
More than 170,000 homes and businesses were without power, most of them in Mississippi and Tennessee, according to a power outage tracking website. poweroutage.us. That included more than 57,000 in Nashville as of Friday night.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said he shares “strong concerns” with Nashville Electric Service leadership, adding that residents “need a clear timeline for restoring power, transparency about the number of line workers deployed, and a better understanding of when work will be completed in their neighborhood.”
The authority defended its response, saying that the storm that struck last weekend was unprecedented.
Mississippi officials said Huge winter storm It was the worst since 1994. About 80 warming centers were opened, and National Guard troops delivered supplies by truck and helicopter.
Experts warned of the increasing risk of hypothermia. Frostbite was also a concern in the South, where some people may lack adequate warm clothing, said Dr. David Nessler, an emergency medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
More than 100 people died from Texas to New Jersey, about half of them in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. While some deaths are attributed to hypothermia, others are suspected to be related to exposure to carbon monoxide. Officials did not reveal specific details about some of the deaths.
In North Carolina, hundreds of National Guard soldiers prepared to assist and state employees worked to prepare roads.
The city of Wake Forest saw a steady stream of people filling propane tanks Friday at Holding Oil & Gas, including Jose Rosa, who arrived after attacking three other places.
“I’m out here in this cold weather, and I don’t like it,” Rosa said, holding a 20-pound (9-kilogram) tank.
In Dare County, home to much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, residents have expressed concern that more unoccupied homes in communities like Rodanthe and Buxton It could collapse into the Atlantic Ocean.
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Associated Press writers Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jonathan Mathis and Travis Lawler in Nashville, Tennessee; Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina; Sarah Broomfield in Washington; David Fisher in Fort Lauderdale; Devi Shastri in Milwaukee and Haley Golden in Seattle contributed.