200,000+ outages remain almost a week after devastating ice storm
Temperatures across the affected areas have gotten as cold as -20°C in recent days
More than 200,000 people remained without power on Friday after a destructive winter storm struck the southern and eastern United States last weekend.
Local governments and organizations have scrambled to provide warmth, meals, and supplies to residents affected by the extensive outages.
DON'T MISS: Winter storm kills dozens as cold lingers in central and eastern U.S.
A large swath of the southern United States experienced widespread damage during last weekend’s major winter storm. 15-25+ mm of ice accretion from freezing rain caused catastrophic tree and power line damage from northern Louisiana through central Tennessee.
As of Friday afternoon, tracking website PowerOutage.US reported that outages continued for more than 79,000 customers in Mississippi, 72,000 customers in Tennessee, and 32,000 customers in Louisiana.
These numbers are down from a peak of more than 1,000,000 outages on Sunday, Jan. 25.
The Nashville Predators announced Friday that they were opening Bridgestone Arena to local residents “as a gathering place to charge devices, refill water, and to enjoy a hot meal.”
Temperatures have remained consistently around or below freezing since the storm. Nashville, Tennessee only experienced about 15 hours of above-freezing temperatures between Saturday, Jan. 24, and Friday, Jan. 30.
Extremely cold temperatures will persist over the eastern half of the United States as a renewed burst of Arctic air sweeps through the region.
Saturday’s low temperature may reach -15°C in Memphis, Tennessee, threatening the record of -13.8°C which was set there back in 1899.
The storm's U.S. toll may soon approach 100 fatalities. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced 14 storm-related fatalities in his state on Thursday. Tennessee’s death toll stood at 13 as of Friday.
Header image courtesy of the City of Oxford via Facebook.