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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Winter upwind brought crystal to a wide swath of the United States connected Tuesday, causing the cancellation of much than 1,600 flights nationwide, bringing postulation to a standstill connected an interstate done Arkansas and knocking retired powerfulness to thousands of Texans.
As the crystal tempest precocious eastward connected Tuesday, watches and warnings stretched from the occidental bottommost of Texas each the mode to West Virginia. Several rounds of mixed precipitation — including freezing rainfall and sleet — were successful store for galore areas done Wednesday, meaning immoderate regions could beryllium deed aggregate times, the national Weather Prediction Center warned.
Numerous car collisions were reported successful Austin, Texas, with astatine slightest 1 fatality according to the Austin Fire Department. In Travis County, Texas, which includes Austin, constabulary and sheriff’s deputies person been responding to caller crashes astir each 3 minutes since 8 a.m., according to the Austin-Travis County Traffic Report Page.
More than 700 flights to oregon from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and much than 250 to oregon from Dallas Love Field were canceled oregon delayed Tuesday, according to the tracking work FlightAware. At Dallas-Fort Worth, a large U.S. airdrome hub, much than 40% of the flights had been canceled.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has canceled much than 500 flights and delayed much than 250 more, FlightAware reported.
About 7,000 powerfulness outages successful Texas were reported arsenic of precocious Tuesday morning, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said pursuing a briefing successful Austin connected the worsening conditions. He emphasized the outages were owed to factors specified arsenic crystal connected powerfulness lines oregon downed trees, and not the show of the Texas powerfulness grid that buckled for days during a deadly wintertime tempest successful 2021.
Fleets of exigency vehicles were fanned retired among 1,600 roads impacted by the freeze.
One Texas authorities trooper was hospitalized with superior injuries aft being struck by a operator who mislaid power of their vehicle, said Steve McCraw, manager of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“The roadways are precise hazardous close now. We cannot overemphasize that,” Abbott said.
In Arkansas, Interstate 40 Tuesday greeting was ice-coated and “extremely hazardous” successful the Forrest City area, according to the city’s occurrence department. Pictures posted connected societal media showed the crumpled cab of a semi-trailer.
The section responded to 2 atrocious wrecks and astir 15 different crashes Tuesday morning, Division Chief Jeremy Sharp said by telephone. In galore of the crashes, the drivers prime up velocity connected the road but tally into occupation erstwhile they scope a bridge, helium said.
“They deed the crystal and they commencement wrecking,” helium said.
“When I-40 shuts down similar that, that tin beryllium hours of waiting,” said John Gadberry, who lives successful Colt, Arkansas, not acold from the highway. “I-40 is usually 1 of the archetypal things that freezes implicit owed to its flimsy elevation.”
By precocious Tuesday morning, I-40 was cleared and postulation had resumed, the Arkansas Department of Transportation announced. The interstate connects Little Rock, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee.
The storm began Monday arsenic portion of an expected “several rounds” of wintry precipitation done Wednesday crossed Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Chenard.
“Generally airy to mean freezing rainfall resulting successful immoderate beauteous important crystal amounts,” Chenard said.
“We’re expecting crystal accumulations perchance a 4th inch oregon higher arsenic acold southbound arsenic Austin, Texas, up to Dallas implicit to Little Rock, Arkansas, towards Memphis, Tennessee, and adjacent getting adjacent to Nashville, Tennessee,” according to Chenard.
The formation disruptions travel Southwest’s meltdown successful December that began with a wintertime tempest but continued aft astir different airlines had recovered. Southwest canceled astir 16,700 flights implicit the past 10 days of the year, and the U.S. Transportation Department is investigating.
The upwind work has issued a wintertime tempest informing for a ample swath of Texas and parts of southeastern Oklahoma and an crystal tempest informing crossed the midsection of Arkansas into occidental Tennessee.
A wintertime upwind advisory is successful spot successful overmuch of the remainder of Arkansas and Tennessee and into overmuch of Kentucky, West Virginia and confederate parts of Indiana and Ohio.
Schools and colleges successful Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas planned to adjacent oregon spell to virtual learning Tuesday.
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Martin reported from Woodstock, Georgia. Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield successful Silver Spring, Maryland; Ken Miller successful Oklahoma City; and David Koenig successful Dallas contributed.
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