A lineman works to restore power in Oxford, Miss. on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, following a weekend ice storm. (AP Photo/Bruce Newman)
Republished January 27, 2026 - 1:40 AM
Original Publication Date January 26, 2026 - 1:26 PM
KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — As a deadly storm that brought crippling ice to the South and deep snow to the Northeast finally swirled out to sea, it represented a light at the end of the tunnel for some.
However, roughly half a million Americans were still without power or heat, and temperatures were forecast to fall well below freezing Tuesday evening in areas where the massive ice storm did its worst damage.
About 130,000 customers had no electricity in the Nashville, Tennessee, area, according to poweroutage.com. About 140,000 remained without power in hard-hit Mississippi, and nearly 100,000 more in icy Louisiana in what is likely to be a costly storm for the nation.
After a sleepless night in Iuka, Mississippi, Adrian Ronca-Hohn said he awoke Monday to what looked "like a war zone.”
“We couldn’t go 10 seconds without hearing what sounded like a gunshot," the 23-year-old football coach said of falling trees and branches.
Meanwhile, people without power in homes around the South were trying to survive. Many of those homes were never built for northern winters and many southerners are unaccustomed to the many risks that come with winter weather.
“We have a lot of people without heat, without power and without water," Ronca-Hohn said. "We have a lot of mobile homes down here that aren’t very well-insulated."
Here's a look at the storm by the numbers.
1
Thickness of ice in inches (2.5 centimeters) recorded in multiple communities across Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, and South Carolina.
6.7
Inches of sleet (17 centimeters) that fell at Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, according to preliminary totals.
32
The number of deaths reported in states afflicted with severe cold as of Tuesday. That includes two people run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, fatal sledding accidents that killed teenagers in Arkansas and Texas, and eight people found dead outdoors in New York City.
10
The number of days it could take to restore power in Allen County, Kentucky, city officials said when the storm hit. Other communities estimated similar time frames. In New Albany, Mississippi, the city utility warned Sunday that restoring power to all its customers “will take a minimum of a week and possibly more depending on conditions.”
14
The temperature in Fahrenheit (minus 10 Celsius) that’s expected early Wednesday morning in Tennessee’s capital city of Nashville, where thousands remain without power.
22.2
Inches of snow (56.4 centimeters) that fell during the storm in Sterling, Massachusetts. The number is a preliminary figure through Monday morning.
47
The number of places in Nashville where people without power can go to warm up and charge their phones, including fire and police stations.
50
The temperature in Fahrenheit (10 Celsius) inside Marshall Ramsey’s home in Oxford, Mississippi, on Monday morning after he lost power. The weekend ice storm “was like a demonic symphony of trees breaking, transformers blowing and thunder,” said Ramsey, a longtime editorial cartoonist who now teaches at the University of Mississippi.
200-plus
The number of dogs rescued from a rural property in the Tupelo, Mississippi, area just before the ice storm by Paws of War. The New York-based nonprofit rescues animals and places them with veterans and first responders.
130,000
The number of Nashville Electric Service customers without power in the Nashville area on Tuesday, according to the company.
138,000
The number of customers without power in Mississippi on Tuesday, according to poweroutage.com.
175,000
The number of customers without power in Tennessee on Tuesday, according to poweroutage.com.
News from © The Associated Press, 2026