The south reels from Storm Inga: 10 dead and at least 100,000 without power after slow moving storm dumps a FOOT of snow, temperatures plunge to -15 in the wind and thousands – including Dale Earnhardt Jr. – struggle in treacherous road conditions
The South is still reeling from a winter storm that brought up to ten inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday
At least 10 people have died in connection to the storm, including a baby who drowned when a pickup spun in ice and landed in a canal in Louisiana
An estimated 100,000 in the region are still without power
Temperatures will remain below freezing in much of the South on Thursday, but things are expected to warm up starting Friday
ASHLEY COLLMAN
DAILYMAIL.COM
18 January 2018
Several Southern states will be dealing with the lingering effects of a slow-moving winter storm that dumped a half-foot of snow on North Carolina’s largest cities, dusted the Deep South and killed at least 10 people.
While Winter Storm Inga moved offshore late Wednesday, and the snow has now stopped, temperatures in the South will remain below freezing until Friday – when there’s expected to be a major warm-up.
From Charlotte to Raleigh, North Carolina’s five most populous cities all saw significant snow from a system that followed an atypical west-to-east path across the state. By Wednesday afternoon, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Durham each had more than six inches, while some places saw as much as 10 inches. Even the beach in Biloxi, Mississippi got a light coating.
An estimated 100,000 homes and businesses in the region are still without power, Weather.com reports.
Drivers unaccustomed to ice spun their wheels across Atlanta, which was brought to a near-standstill by little more than an inch of snow.
Even the best drivers had trouble: Retired NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted that he had just used his winch to help pull a car out of a ditch when he drove off the road and into a tree in North Carolina.
‘NC stay off the roads today/tonight. 5 minutes after helping these folks I center punched a pine tree,’ he reported. A spokesman said Earnhardt was not hurt and his pickup had only minor damage.
Though skies were sunny and bright in many places, temperatures remained below freezing throughout the day in much of the South.
Thousands of schoolchildren and teachers got the day off. Many cities canceled meetings and court proceedings, and some businesses closed. Slippery runways and the need to de-ice planes forced cancellations and delays in New Orleans; Memphis, Tennessee; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Electricity usage surged as people struggled to keep warm.
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