Major winter storm: South braces for big blast of snow, ice

ATLANTA (AP) — Forecasts of snow and ice as far south as Georgia have put a big part of the Southeast on an emergency preparedness footing as shoppers scoured store shelves for storm supplies and crews raced to treat highways and roads as a major winter storm approached from the Midwest.

In Virginia, where a blizzard left thousands of motorists trapped on clogged highways earlier this month, outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and urged people to take the approaching storm seriously. In North Carolina, some store shelves were stripped bare of essentials including bread and milk.

Parts of Tennessee could get as much as a foot of snow, forecasters said, and northern Mississippi and the Tennessee Valley region of Alabama could receive light snow accumulations. With lows predicted in the 20s across a wide area, any precipitation could freeze, making driving difficult if not hazardous. The eastern part of the state is forecasted to see wind gusts of up to 70 mph.

Travis Wagler said he hadn’t seen such a run on supplies at his Abbeville, South Carolina, hardware store in at least two winters.

“We’re selling everything you might expect: sleds, but also salt, shovels and firewood,” Wagler said from Abbeville Hardware on Friday. That region faced predictions of a quarter-inch of ice or more on trees and power lines, which could lead to days without electricity.

A winter storm warning extended from just north of metro Atlanta to Arkansas in the west and upstate New York in the north, covering parts of at least 14 states including Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Travel problems could extend into metro Atlanta.

A mixture of ice and up to 2 inches of snow is expected in Atlanta, according to an advisory issued Saturday by the National Weather Service. Atlanta is also predicted to see sustained winds of up to 35 mph with gusts as high as 60 mph.

Nearly 2,000 flights within the U.S. have already been canceled for Sunday in anticipation of snow and ice in the South, according to the flight tracking site flightaware.com, which tracks flight cancellations worldwide. A major U.S. airport hub for American Airlines — Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina — led the list of cancellations for Sunday at U.S. airports.

American Airlines canceled nearly 500 Sunday flights, or 17 percent of its daily schedule. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines canceled more than 130 of its Sunday flights, the flight tracking site showed.

Possible power outages and travel problems could be exacerbated by any coating of ice — and winds gusting to 60 mph in some areas, the National Weather Service said.

“Hopefully, the storm will underdeliver, but it could overdeliver. We just don’t know,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp as he announced storm preparations. He was taking no chances as he declared a state of emergency and crews began treating major roads and highways in north Georgia.

Gov. Henry McMaster in neighboring South Carolina also issued an emergency order, saying the state would likely start feeling the effects of the major winter storm Sunday morning.

At a news conference on Saturday, McMaster urged residents to stay off the roads.