{"id":35503,"date":"2026-01-25T13:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T09:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/?p=35503"},"modified":"2026-01-25T11:51:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T07:51:51","slug":"us-winter-storm-travel-emergency-declarations-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/us-winter-storm-travel-emergency-declarations-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive Winter Storm Grips U.S., Halting Travel and Prompting Emergency Declarations"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"background: #f7fafc; padding: 15px;\">\n<p><strong>Quick Read<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Over 190 million people across 37 U.S. states are under winter weather alerts.<\/li>\n<li>More than 11,800 flights have been canceled this weekend, primarily impacting Dallas-Fort Worth and Charlotte.<\/li>\n<li>Over 145,000 customers are without power, mostly in Texas and Louisiana.<\/li>\n<li>At least 17 states and the District of Columbia have declared emergencies, with 12 federal declarations approved by President Trump.<\/li>\n<li>New York City expects 8-9 inches of snow and its coldest multi-day temperatures in eight years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>WASHINGTON (Azat TV)<\/b> \u2013 A massive winter storm is currently gripping the United States, bringing dangerously low temperatures, heavy snowfall, and significant ice accumulations across more than half the country, leading to widespread travel disruptions, power outages, and emergency declarations in at least 17 states and the District of Columbia. Federal officials have approved disaster declarations for a dozen states, mobilizing resources as millions brace for conditions described by some state leaders as potentially catastrophic.<\/p>\n<h2>Widespread Disruptions and Travel Chaos<\/h2>\n<p>The severe weather front has placed approximately 190 million people\u2014more than half of the U.S. population\u2014under winter weather alerts across 37 states, stretching from the Rocky Mountains to New England. The storm has caused extensive disruptions, particularly in air travel, with preliminary data from <em>FlightAware.com<\/em> indicating that over 11,800 flights within, into, or out of the United States have been canceled this weekend. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport have seen the highest numbers of cancellations, with American Airlines accounting for the majority of grounded flights.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond air travel, ground transportation is also severely impacted. New Jersey Transit has announced the suspension of all commuter rail, light rail, bus, and Access Link services starting tomorrow, citing safety concerns. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned of the lowest multi-day temperatures in eight years, with up to nine inches of snow expected. Officials in New York City and New Jersey have issued hazardous travel advisories, with New Jersey temporarily lowering speed limits on interstate and state highways to 35 mph.<\/p>\n<p>Power outages are a growing concern as temperatures plummet. More than 145,000 customers were without electricity shortly before 6:30 p.m. ET, according to tracking website <em>poweroutage.us<\/em>. The majority of these outages are concentrated in Texas and Louisiana, where ice accumulations of up to three-quarters of an inch and sleet accumulations of up to an inch are possible, posing a significant threat to infrastructure.<\/p>\n<h2>States Declare Emergencies as Federal Aid Mobilizes<\/h2>\n<p>In response to the escalating crisis, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem confirmed that at least 17 states and the District of Columbia have declared emergencies. President Donald Trump has approved federal emergency declarations for Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia. These declarations pave the way for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist with emergency work, such as debris removal and protective measures, with the federal government covering 75% of the costs.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Noem emphasized that FEMA has prepositioned supplies, embedded personnel in state emergency operations centers, and deployed incident management teams. Dozens of urban search and rescue teams are also on standby. She urged citizens to heed warnings from state and local leaders, advising them to stay off roads to allow emergency services to operate effectively.<\/p>\n<p>Several states are activating their emergency response mechanisms. Indiana Governor Mike Braun has activated a State Emergency Operations Center and deployed highway assistance teams from the Indiana National Guard. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger stated that her state is preparing for what is anticipated to be a &#8216;catastrophic storm,&#8217; with significant snow, ice, and prolonged power outages expected. She confirmed President Trump had approved a disaster declaration for Virginia last night.<\/p>\n<h2>Local Responses to Unprecedented Conditions<\/h2>\n<p>Cities across the affected regions are implementing extensive measures. New York City Mayor Mamdani announced that thousands of city trash trucks have been outfitted with snowplows, with over 2,000 sanitation workers staffing each 12-hour shift. The city has also applied brine to streets and has 700 million pounds of salt on hand. Additionally, the city has activated a Code Blue, deploying teams to connect homeless residents with shelter options.<\/p>\n<p>In Columbus, Ohio, Mayor Andrew Ginther warned residents that the city is expecting 10 to 14 inches of snowfall, potentially making it one of the top five to ten snow events in Columbus history. Public works officials conceded that plows would likely be unable to keep pace with the historic snowfall, anticipating roadways to remain problematic through Tuesday. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster urged residents to prepare for the &#8216;worst ice storm in at least 20 years,&#8217; warning of potential power outages lasting several days and emphasizing the need to check on vulnerable neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>Federal offices and all Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C., will be closed on Monday due to the inclement weather, with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management advising maximum telework. Package and food delivery companies, including UPS, FedEx, Grubhub, and DoorDash, have announced contingency plans, with some warning of service pauses or longer wait times and potential &#8216;Weather Impact Fees&#8217; for deliveries in severe conditions.<\/p>\n<h2>Outlook and Continuing Challenges<\/h2>\n<p>Forecasters predict that dangerous cold will persist across much of the central and eastern U.S., with wind chills ranging from minus 20s to minus 50 degrees in the northern Plains. While conditions are expected to gradually improve next week, snow and bitter cold may linger in New England and around the Great Lakes. The National Weather Service in Louisville, Kentucky, noted the complexity of forecasting due to a &#8216;warm nose&#8217; phenomenon, where surface temperatures are below freezing but higher atmospheric layers are above, making ice accumulation predictions particularly tricky.<\/p>\n<p><em>The coordinated efforts across federal, state, and local governments, alongside critical infrastructure providers, underscore the immense logistical challenge posed by a weather event of this magnitude, highlighting the interconnectedness of public services and the vulnerability of daily life to extreme climatic conditions.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A vast winter storm is unleashing extreme cold, heavy snow, and significant ice across more than half of the United States, leading to over 10,000 flight cancellations, widespread power outages, and emergency declarations in at least 17 states and the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow5Nm1DA:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[43652,28820,15013,3607,12360,12282,13767,12274,127,32496],"class_list":["post-35503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","tag-emergency-declarations","tag-extreme-cold","tag-fema","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york-city","tag-power-outages","tag-south-carolina","tag-travel-disruptions","tag-united-states","tag-winter-storm"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/snow-covered-street.jpg","_embedded":{"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":-1,"source_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/snow-covered-street.jpg","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}