As many as 800,000 people across 10 southeastern states were still without power on Monday morning after a powerful winter storm swept the nation over the weekend. As bitterly cold temperatures move into the region, restoring electricity and heat has become a critical public safety priority.
Most of the Eastern U.S. is currently under cold-related weather alerts, with extreme cold warnings concentrated in the Southeast and the Great Lakes region. The National Weather Service expects wind chills in these areas to drop well below freezing overnight Monday through 12 p.m. ET Tuesday, significantly raising the risk of hypothermia, frostbite, and frozen pipes.
These conditions will be particularly dangerous for southern states still contending with widespread power outages, including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, and the Carolinas. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that homes in these states are heated by electricity, according to the Associated Press.
NBC News reports that 13 people have died as a result of this weekend’s severe weather. One victim, a 28-year-old elementary school teacher who went missing Friday night after leaving a bar in Emporia, Kansas, appears to have succumbed to hypothermia, according to local authorities.
Outages could persist for several days
Utility companies serving areas heavily impacted by outages—including Duke Energy, Cleco, CEMC, and more—have said customers could be without power for several days.
Duke reported over 18,000 outages across the Carolinas Sunday afternoon, with more expected as ice continues to accumulate on trees and power lines. In a Monday update, Cleco said it had restored power to 60% of the 17,000 affected customers across Louisiana and Mississippi, but added that crews are still working to clear debris, assess damage, and restore power to certain areas.
CEMC is dealing with a similar situation in Tennessee, where extensive tree damage and broken electrical equipment will likely lead to a “multi-day restoration event,” according to a Monday statement. PJM, the largest regional grid in the U.S. serving 67 million people, said on Sunday that it is bracing for record-breaking energy demand as frigid temperatures move into the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest in the coming days.
“This is a formidable Arctic cold front coming our way, and it will impact our neighboring systems as much as it affects PJM,” Mike Bryson, PJM’s senior vice president of operations, said in a statement. “We will be relying on our generation fleet to perform as well as they did during last year’s record winter peak.”
What to do if you can’t heat your house
Extremely low temperatures and power outages can be a deadly combination. If you suddenly lose the ability to heat your home, there are steps you can take to protect yourself, your family, and your pipes.
The first thing to do is immediately seal off any unused rooms, close curtains and blinds, and gather in a single, well-insulated interior room to prevent heat from escaping as best you can. Make sure there are plenty of blankets and winter clothing to go around. To prevent your pipes from freezing and bursting, insulate any that are exposed and allow faucets to drip during the coldest periods.
Most importantly, make sure you know where you can go if it becomes too cold to safely remain at home. Take the time now to locate warming shelters, community centers, or other safe indoor locations in your community. If the temperature of your house drops below 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius) it’s time to go.
Meteorologists expect the Arctic temperatures to continue impacting the East though the beginning of February, and there’s already a chance of more snow in the forecast for next weekend. Having an emergency plan in place will be critical over the next couple of weeks. For more information about how to stay safe during a winter power outage, visit Ready.gov.
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