ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The South, still digging out from snow and ice that brought the region to a standstill this week, is getting slammed by a second winter storm on Wednesday.
This new storm already brought up to 9 inches of snow to Amarillo, Texas, and up to 6 inches of snow near Oklahoma City.
Freezing rain is falling in both Austin and San Antonio, Texas, where everything is covered in a layer of ice.
Later in the day, the ice and snow will move into Louisiana, Mississippi, northern Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Little Rock, Arkansas, along with Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, could see 6 inches of snow.
Wednesday evening, severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and tornadoes are possible along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama.
The winter weather has left over 2.9 million in Texas without power on Wednesday. Outages also extend to Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisiana, Virginia, Mississippi and Ohio.
At least 22 states have delayed or canceled some vaccinations due to weather.
Houston’s COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites will be closed Wednesday and Thursday, officials said. Houston schools will also be closed Wednesday and Thursday, with no virtual or in-person instruction.
President Joe Biden had a phone call with several governors of the states affected by the weather, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, the White House said Tuesday evening.
Biden said the administration was “prepared to assist and stands ready to respond to requests for Federal assistance from the governors and will deploy any additional Federal emergency resources available to assist the residents of their states in getting through this historic storm.”
Thursday morning, the storm moves to the East Coast.
Heavy snow will begin in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City Thursday morning and continue into the afternoon.
An icy mix with freezing rain and sleet is expected from Richmond, Virginia, to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Philadelphia and New York could see 5 to 7 inches of snow. D.C. and Boston are expected to get 3 to 6 inches
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