Once-in-a-generation winter storm hits southern U.S.

HOUSTON, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- From Texas to Louisiana and Florida, a wide swath of southern United States braced for a once-in-a-generation winter storm with heavy snow, sleet and ice on Tuesday, which created hazardous travel conditions for the region unaccustomed to bitterly cold weather.

Up to 235 million Americans were affected by the storm, which the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) described as "a generational winter storm event."

For the first time, the NWS issued a blizzard warning for parts of southern Louisiana and far eastern Texas where heavy snow and strong wind gusts combined to create whiteout conditions.

Roads overnight and Tuesday would be "extremely hazardous if not impossible for much of the area, and travel is highly discouraged," the NWS warned.

Schools, government offices, as well as many shops and restaurants were closed across the region on Tuesday. Numerous roads were covered with snow and some with ice mix. Wind chills on Tuesday morning made temperatures drop into the teens for much of the Gulf Coast with single-digit values in northern Texas.

More than 2,100 flights into or out of affected airports across the region, most coming from Texas and Louisiana, were canceled on Tuesday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. A number of airports in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida also suspended operations due to the storm.

Large sections of Interstate 10 in Texas and Louisiana, the Gulf Coast states' major thoroughfare, were closed Tuesday due to treacherous conditions.

Houston, the biggest city in Texas, recorded widespread three to six inches of snow while more than half a foot of snow had fallen by Tuesday afternoon in parts of southern Louisiana.

In one location just north of Rayne, Louisiana, 10.5 inches of snow had been recorded before noon, said a CNN report, adding that snow even covered sandy beaches along Texas' coast on Tuesday morning.

The governors of Gulf Coast states including Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi have issued state of emergency to address the once-in-a-generation storm.

"Our infrastructure is designed differently than states that are used to this (winter weather)," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a press conference on Tuesday, warning that driving in icy conditions "can be very, very hazardous."

"Most of us haven't experienced this combination of bitter cold and significant snow ever in our lifetime," Louisiana climatologist Jay Grymes said Monday. ■