Parts of Florida Panhandle shut down by historic | Commodities

By Wealthy McKay and Georgina McCartney

ATLANTA (Reuters) -An historic January storm dumped more deep snow alongside the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday after bringing Houston and New Orleans to a close to standstill over the previous two days and burying components of Florida’s Panhandle with accumulations more typical of Chicago.

One other 4 inches (10 cm) of snow, mixed with sleet and freezing rain, piled up in some spots in northern Florida, southern Georgia and southeast South Carolina because the storm crawled via the area on Wednesday, the Nationwide Climate Service stated.

Florida could have already damaged its all-time report of snowfall with 9 inches within the western Panhandle city of Milton, close to Pensacola, in line with Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the Nationwide Climate Service’s Climate Prediction Heart.

Earlier than this storm, Milton Mayor Heather Lindsay (NYSE:) stated she had not seen a snowflake fall on the town since 2014.

“We’re taking it in stride, but everything is shut,” stated Lindsay. The town has no snow plows and most residents do not even own a snow shovel, she stated.

“But the kids are out using kayaks and inner tubes as sleds, enjoying a snow day,” she stated.

Because the precipitation dissipated on Wednesday, frigid air set in and can stay at the least till this weekend alongside the Gulf Coast and the East Coast.

“The cold is sticking around,” Pereira stated.

Tallahassee, Florida’s capital metropolis, the place temperatures are usually within the 60s in January, was anticipated to see a low of 4 levels Fahrenheit (-15 levels Celsius) on Wednesday.

The winter storm had already slammed main Gulf Coast cities comparable to Houston, the place 4 inches (10 cm) of snow fell, probably the most the town has gotten since 1960. Within the New Orleans space, a report 10 inches (25 cm) of snow collected in some locations, turning Bourbon Avenue white on Tuesday.

SNOW A RARITY IN LOUISIANA

Justin Daffron, chief development officer at Covenant Home in New Orleans, stated its shelter was working at full capability however managing to keep up with demand regardless that snow emergencies are nearly unknown in Louisiana.

“I think this is different because hurricanes in New Orleans are commonplace, and we are unaccustomed to the severe winter weather,” he stated. “It took everyone by surprise because for those of us who have had winter weather here before, it was basically a dusting.”

The storm has killed at the least 12 people, together with 5 in Zavala County, Texas, early on Tuesday in a car accident on Freeway 57, in line with the Texas Division of Public Security. Two different Texas deaths have been reportedly attributable to publicity to the cold in Austin, officers introduced.

Different cold-related deaths have been reported in Alabama and Georgia, officers introduced.

Some 20 million people throughout the area have been underneath winter climate advisories and warnings on Wednesday, the Nationwide Climate Service stated, warning people concerning the risks of frostbite and hypothermia and street journey.

“These travel impacts may linger for several days given the historic heavy accumulations combined with frigid temperatures, as well as the lack of equipment for clearing roads compared to areas further north,” the service stated.

Extra than 90,000 properties and companies have been with out energy from Texas east into Georgia and Florida, in line with Poweroutage.us. Many faculties and native authorities places of work have been closed, whereas many highways throughout the area have been slick, lined with snow and ice.

Airports, together with Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Dallas-Fort Price Worldwide Airport have been quickly closed in a single day and early on Wednesday as a result of of the storm. Extra than 1,400 flights have been canceled within the U.S., many within the southeast and one other 1,200 have been delayed, in line with the monitoring website, Flightaware.com.

U.S. liquefied company Freeport LNG stated on Wednesday it closed its export plant in Texas on Jan. 21 attributable to a energy feed drawback during the winter storm, and can keep it shut till energy provide stabilizes.

The U.S. Northeast was dealing with one other day of frigid cold temperatures. The bottom temperature recorded within the contiguous United States on Wednesday was a harsh -27 levels Fahrenheit (-32 C) in Davis, West Virginia, in line with the Nationwide Climate Service.