A severe winter storm caused major disruptions on Thursday, cancelling thousands of flights and knocking out power to customers in Tennessee and Texas. By Thursday afternoon, at least 5,800 flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.  In addition, nearly 124,000 customers were without power in Tennessee, while approximately 60,000 had lost power in Texas.

The National Weather Service warned that widespread heavy snow and freezing rain could produce flash floods across portions of the south The weather service said the storm is impacting parts of the country, from North Texas to New York,  and is forecast to continue well into Friday.

Cities in Illinois and Michigan had a foot of snow in the storm’s first wave; and parts of Indiana expected up to 18 inches of snow. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned of treacherous roads and possible power outages, saying: “Either ice on power lines … could cause a power line to go down, or it could be ice on trees that causes a tree to fall on power lines.”  Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a weather state of emergency, closing state office buildings and issuing an executive order to protect Kentucky residents from price gouging during the emergency.

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