Winter Storm Shuts Airports, Cuts Power to Over 1 Million
A massive winter storm left about 1,005,641 customers without power and forced over 12,000 flight cancellations, officials said.
Overview
PowerOutage.us reported 1,005,641 customers without electricity across the United States as of 2:14 p.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 25, with Tennessee accounting for roughly 300,000 outages, the tracker showed.
The National Weather Service warned on Jan. 24 that heavy snow, sleet and "catastrophic ice" could cause long-duration outages and that precipitation will continue into Monday, Jan. 26, in parts of the Northeast.
FEMA officials confirmed in a briefing document that the agency pre-positioned nearly 30 search-and-rescue teams, 7 million meals, 600,000 blankets and 300 generators ahead of the storm.
FlightAware recorded 12,200 canceled flights across U.S. hubs on Jan. 24-25, with major cancellations and thousands of delays reported at airports including Philadelphia, New York and Atlanta, FlightAware said.
Authorities reported at least two hypothermia deaths in Louisiana, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at least five people died in the city, accounts that officials said are still being investigated and marked by conflicting details.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the storm as an urgent, emergency-level event by using strong descriptors (e.g., "massive," "historic," "monster"), prioritizing official warnings and emergency declarations, and emphasizing human impacts—power outages, hypothermia deaths, mass flight cancellations—through early placement of statistics and vivid local anecdotes that heighten perceived risk.
Sources (101)
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FAQ
Tennessee has the most outages at around 300,000 customers, followed by Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama.
Over 12,000 flights were canceled across U.S. hubs on January 24-25, with nearly 15,000 cancellations through Monday reported at major airports like Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta.
FEMA pre-positioned nearly 30 search-and-rescue teams, 7 million meals, 600,000 blankets, and 300 generators ahead of the storm.
Power outages exceed 1 million customers; PJM expects peak demand over 130,000 megawatts for seven days, potentially setting records, with pre-emergency measures activated.
At least two hypothermia deaths in Louisiana and five in New York City, though the New York accounts are under investigation with conflicting details.
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