Published: January 23,2016
Winter Storm Jonas created icy conditions over the weekend in the South that contributed to at least six deaths in the South and complete gridlock on a major interstate in Kentucky that stranded motorists for hours.
Below are state-by-state breakdowns of Winter Storm Jonas' impacts in the South.
(FORECAST: Get the Latest Details on Winter Storm Jonas)
4 Dead in North Carolina
In a press conference Saturday, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory announced two fatalities related to the storm, but did not disclose any more information.The victim of a vehicle crash in Hickory County was identified as 19-year-old Madeline Scalf, according to the Associated Press. Friday morning Scalf lost control of her vehicle on an icy road and hit a tree. She died on impact.
On Friday morning, treacherous conditions on Interstate 95 caused a serious wreck in Johnston County in which one person died.
On Friday afternoon, a fatal accident on Interstate 77 in Iredell County resulted in the death of a child. According to WSOC-TV, the child was secured in a child's car seat at the time of the crash, and three other passengers were hospitalized with injuries.
On Saturday morning, an estimated 147,000 homes and businesses were still without power across the state. Wake County was the hardest hit with 61,000 outages, followed by Johnston, Harnett and Nash counties.
1 Dead, Interstate 75 Reopens in Kentucky
A news release from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet confirmed one of their employees died while plowing highways in Christian County.The employee was identified as Christopher Adams, 44, who had been employee of the cabinet for 16 years. Adams had called his supervisor around 5:50 a.m. indicating his snow plow had slid into a ditch along KY 115. When the supervisor arrived on the scene, Adams was slumped over in his seat and unresponsive.
The coroner has notified Adams' family.
Interstate 75 south of Lexington finally reopened Saturday morning after Winter Storm Jonas turned the major freeway into a parking lot. Some motorists said they had been stuck for up to 15 hours.
Kentucky State Police said there were no injuries reported.
Emergency shelters were opened near two exits along Interstate 75 for motorists who've been stranded by the mammoth storm that dumped 18 inches of snow on portions of the state, the Associated Press reported.
At least 3,000 people were stranded on the highway, WLKY.com reported. The traffic backup – from mile marker 76 to mile marker 41 – is 35 miles long, state trooper Kendra Wilson told CNN on Saturday morning.
State police officials told Kentucky television station WTVQ that southbound traffic was being diverted to Exit 76 in Berea, while northbound traffic was being diverted to Exit 41 in London.
A section of I-75 in Rockcastle County was closed twice during Friday afternoon and evening due to numerous accidents. It turned I-75 in both directions in Rockcastle and Laurel counties into a parking lot.
The American Red Cross was providing food to stranded drivers.
Photos captured by photojournalist Justin Skeens on I-75. @WKYT
"We've got trucks here that literally cannot get out," Edmonds said by phone. "We're spinning. It's not worth even getting out on the road."
According to police, the southbound lanes of I-75 have been opened, but the northbound lanes remain closed, reports AP. They anticipate the remaining lanes will be opened before noon.
Trooper Lloyd Cochran says he does not have a number for the cars or people affected by the gridlock. According to him, there are still some people stuck on the road, milling around exits or leaving their cars to find nearby stores or restaurants.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin declared a statewide emergency Friday, urging people to stay off the road and providing local officials with immediate access to state resources in dealing with the storm.
1 Dead, Up to 8 Inches of Snow in Georgia
Saturday a postal worker was killed after a tree fell onto his vehicle.The worker was driving on the grounds of a DeKab County golf course when the tree fell from the side of the road and struck the vehicle, causing it to veer off the road and crash into another tree, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The postal worker's identity has not been released.
According to forecasters, up to 8 inches of snow fell in northeast Georgia.
"The
band of heavy rain and thunderstorms that marched across the Deep South
Thursday night on the front side of Winter Storm Jonas helped pump
moisture into the high terrain of far northeast Georgia," said
weather.com senior meteorologist Nick Wiltgen. "Temperatures there were
colder in part because of the higher elevation and in part because of
that area's proximity to colder air feeding in from the Mid-Atlantic. As
a result, snow fell in some areas instead of rain. Additional snow
showers have wrapped back into northern Georgia on the back side of
Winter Storm Jonas as well."
The winter storm warning for the state will end at 7 p.m., reports the Associated Press.
The
chance of snow will lower significantly in the metro Atlanta area, but
there could be minor flooding in some of the rivers, meteorologist Carly
Kovacik told AP.
Authorities
say at least 4,200 people are without power throughout the state.
According to Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft, most of the outages
experienced Saturday occured in concentrated areas of northeast Georgia
and metro Atlamta.
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