Washington (EFE)
The National Weather Service (NWS) explained that a solid core of cold air with temperatures well below normal continues to interact with increasing moisture to create an extensive swath of ice.
“This regime will continue through Wednesday, with the addition of ice especially in portions of Texas,” the NWS added. “Prolonged and significant ice storm continues across much of the southern Plains.”
The storm, dubbed “Marta” by the Weather Channel, has killed three people in Texas, including a woman who died due to ice on a road in the city of Eldorado, a man who died when his vehicle skidded off a bridge in Arlington, and another person who was killed in a 10-vehicle collision.
As of dawn, more than 185,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Arkansas and other southern states were without power, according to powerhouse.us. More than 174,000 of those users are in Texas.
The Austin, Texas Police Department said it responded to 215 vehicle collision calls Tuesday.
impact on flights
According to flightware.com, this morning there were more than 1,890 canceled flights, of which 750 remained at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and another 300 at Dallas Love Field.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency citing “the likelihood of numerous downed power lines,” saying conditions on the streets have created a backlog in the delivery of goods.
Schools and universities in Arkansas suspended classes or turned to distance learning on Wednesday, including Technical University, the entire Little Rock school district, and the University of Arkansas.
Meteorologists at Little Rock’s THV11 station warned that temperatures on Wednesday will remain below 0 degrees Celsius during the day, and could drop to 4 below zero Celsius (25 Fahrenheit) at night.