Snow carpeted much of the US Deep South on Monday, leaving one person dead in Alabama, cutting off power to around 4,000 people in Georgia and closing countless roads, authorities said. Up to nine inches of snow fell in highland parts of the South but authorities said a bigger problem was icy roads.
One person died overnight in a weather-related accident in Coaling, western Alabama, according to Yasamie Richardson, spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. "Any time you have ice on the road it is more of a concern than snow," Richardson said.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency in Georgia and Alabama, freeing up state resources for local government use if necessary.
They have also closed schools and local government offices across Georgia, throughout most of Alabama and in South Carolina and parts of Mississippi. And the weather has had other effects too. Newly-elected Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has moved his inauguration - set for Monday in Atlanta - indoors, local media reported. Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi pride themselves on balmy winters relative to other parts of the country and are consequently often less well prepared for winter weather.
But local authorities have been warning residents for days of an impending storm and a spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said those warnings had kept many people off the roads and thus reduced the number of accidents. He added that at least 30 state highways and countless minor or suburban roads were closed.
South Carolina woke up to snow, sleet, freezing rain and black ice on roadways all the way to the coast. Accumulations of 9 inches were reported in the state's upper north-west corner, with 4-6 inches reported in Greenville. Charlotte Douglas Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, posted flight delays of 57 minutes average.
State offices and schools in upstate South Carolina including Greenville were closed and state capital Columbia expected up to an inch-and-a-half of ice, authorities said. Even the coast saw heavy sleet and freezing rain early overnight and early in the morning.