Texas winter storm causes at least 1 death, hundreds of flight cancellations, and thousands of power outages
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A dangerous ice storm coating Texas and other states led to hundreds of flight cancellations, numerous car crashes and at least one death, officials said Tuesday.
More than 1,600 U.S. flights were canceled, including more than 700 into or out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, as precipitation pounded West Texas to West Virginia.
The death occurred in Austin, Texas, where a highway crash involved 10 vehicles, the Austin Fire Department announced. Officials warned of dangerous road conditions caused by sleet and freezing rain across Dallas-Fort Worth, where a winter storm warning was extended through 6 a.m. Thursday.
“The roadways are very hazardous right now,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday. “We cannot overemphasize that.”
The inclement weather arrived nearly two years after winter storm Uri rocked Texas in February 2021, causing widespread power outages that spanned multiple days. Abbott said the circumstances around the 7,000 outages reported in his state Tuesday differed from 2021, blaming downed trees and ice-covered electrical lines rather than issues with the power grid.
The wicked weather arrived Monday in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee, with the National Weather Service forecasting “several rounds” of storms through Wednesday.
“Generally light to moderate freezing rain resulting in some pretty significant ice amounts,” said Marc Chenard, an NWS meteorologist.
“We’re expecting ice accumulations potentially a quarter inch or higher as far south as Austin, Texas, up to Dallas over to Little Rock, Ark., toward Memphis, [Tenn.], and even getting close to Nashville.”
A Texas state trooper was hit by a vehicle whose driver who lost control, according to authorities. The trooper was hospitalized with significant injuries.
Around 1,600 roads were compromised overall.
The flight cancellations included more than 500 by Southwest Airlines, which is based in Dallas. The latest issues come about a month after Southwest canceled more than 15,000 flights over a 10-day stretch, causing chaos among holiday travelers and prompting a U.S. Transportation Department investigation.
The University of Texas at Austin canceled all classes Tuesday, while the University of Oklahoma in Norman transitioned to virtual learning. Texas A&M University in College Station remained open.
With News Wire Services
