STORY: Rare winter storm hits southern U.S. 
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 21/22, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 23, 2025
LENGTH: 00:02:34
LOCATION: NEW ORLEANS, U.S. 
CATEGORY: SOCIETY 

SHOTLIST:
1. various New Orleans under snow storm 

STORYLINE:

A rare winter storm has swept through the southern U.S., bringing record-breaking snow and bitterly cold weather to typically mild regions of the Gulf Coast. As of Wednesday morning, the storm has claimed at least nine lives. 

New Orleans, the most populous city in the coastal state of Louisiana, experienced its heaviest snowfall since 1948. Tuesday's eight inches far surpassed the previous single day snowfall record of 2.7 inches, according to a report from weather.com.

Several other major cities, including Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, also reported unprecedented totals.

Icy conditions caused widespread disruption in the U.S. South, with more than 1,200 flights being grounded at major airports from Texas to Florida as of Wednesday morning.

The storm forced the closure of 30 interstate highways and the shutting down of numerous school districts, government offices, and businesses. Several southern states have declared states of emergency.

Fatalities included two likely weather-related deaths in Austin, Texas, and at least five deaths in a car crash on icy roads in Zavala County, Texas. Wisconsin in the Midwest and Georgia in the southeast each reported that one person succumbed to cold during the storm, a CNN report has said.

Governors in the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi issued state of emergency declarations earlier this week to address the once-in-a-generation storm.

Though the storm weakened on Wednesday, more than 25 million people from Virginia to Florida were under winter weather alerts as of Wednesday morning.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from New Orleans, U.S.
(XHTV)