Nearly half a million without power and dozens of deaths. A winter storm’s toll, in numbers

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This article was published 26/01/2026 (259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — As a deadly storm that brought crippling ice to the South and deep snow to the Northeast finally swirled out to sea, it represented a light at the end of the tunnel for some.

However, more than 470,000 homes and businesses were still without power or heat, and temperatures were forecast to fall well below freezing Tuesday evening in areas where the massive ice storm did its worst damage.

More than 110,000 customers had no electricity in the Nashville, Tennessee, area, according to poweroutage.com. More than 130,000 remained without power in hard-hit Mississippi, and about 90,000 more in icy Louisiana in what’s likely to be a costly storm for the nation.

After a sleepless night listening to falling trees and branches in Iuka, Mississippi, Adrian Ronca-Hohn said he awoke Monday to what looked “like a war zone.”

“We couldn’t go 10 seconds without hearing what sounded like a gunshot,” the 23-year-old football coach said.

Southern homes typically aren’t built for Northern winters, and many southerners are unaccustomed to the risks of winter weather.

“We have a lot of people without heat, without power and without water,” Ronca-Hohn said. “We have a lot of mobile homes down here that aren’t very well-insulated.”

Here’s a look at the storm, by the numbers.

1 inch

Thickness of ice (2.5 centimeters) recorded in multiple communities across Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, and South Carolina.

More than 3 dozen

That’s how many deaths were reported in states afflicted with severe cold as of Tuesday, including car crashes, hypothermia and being hit by snowplows. At least eight people died in Louisiana, and several people were found dead outdoors in New York City.

6, 8 and 9

Ages of three brothers who perished after falling through the frozen surface of a pond Monday in Texas.

10 days

That’s how long it could take to restore power in Allen County, Kentucky, according to city estimates when the storm hit. Other communities in the South also say it could take a week or more.

6.7 inches

The amount of sleet (17 centimeters) that fell at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to preliminary totals.

22.2 inches

That’s how much snow (56.4 centimeters) fell during the storm in Sterling, Massachusetts. The number was a preliminary figure through Monday morning.

200-plus

The number of dogs rescued from a rural property in the Tupelo, Mississippi, area just before the ice storm by Paws of War. The New York-based nonprofit rescues animals and places them with veterans and first responders.

2,000

U.S. flights canceled Tuesday, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.

14 degrees

The temperature in Fahrenheit (minus 10 Celsius) that’s expected early Wednesday morning in Nashville.

50 degrees

The temperature in Fahrenheit (10 Celsius) inside Marshall Ramsey’s home in Oxford, Mississippi, on Monday morning after he lost power. He said the weekend ice storm “was like a demonic symphony of trees breaking, transformers blowing and thunder.”

28 degrees

The low temperature in Fahrenheit for Orlando, Florida, expected by early next week (minus 2 Celsius). The National Weather Service forecast for the top tourist destination is part of what could become “the longest duration of cold in several decades,” the agency’s Weather Prediction Center warned.

47

The number of places in Nashville where people without power can go to warm up, including fire and police stations.

119,000

The number of Nashville Electric Service customers without power in the area on Tuesday, according to the company.

175,000

Customers without power in all of Tennessee on Tuesday, according to poweroutage.com.

137,000

Customers without power in Mississippi on Tuesday, according to poweroutage.com.

91,000

Customers without power in Louisiana on Tuesday, according to poweroutage.com.