“Due to the icing, many roads in Texas will continue to be very dangerous for the next 24 to 48 hours,” he said. «Be careful, especially with things like black ice.»
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth warned that light to moderate freezing rain moving into central Texas counties Wednesday morning «would freeze to touch and accumulate ice on ALL surfaces.»
«The already slippery roads will become even more slippery and very dangerous tonight and tomorrow!» he said in a cheep.
The severe weather has also contributed to thousands of flight cancellations and delays so far this week.
As of early Wednesday morning, at least 1,300 flights within, to and from the United States have been canceled, according to the online flight tracker. reported flight. At least 355 of those flight cancellations were at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, while nearly 160 at Dallas Love Field and just under 110 at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Southwest Airlines and American Airlines, national carriers based in the region, accounted for the majority of cancellations, with Southwest canceling 487 flights as of early Wednesday and American listing 434 cancellations, according to FlightAware.
Major power outages
Texans have also faced power outages in the midst of the storm.
Nearly 120,000 utility customers were without power as of early Wednesday morning, according to the online outage tracker. poweroutage.us.
Speaking at the news conference Tuesday, utility officials said the state’s electric grid and natural gas supply were ready and would remain reliable through the course of the severe weather event.
Public Utilities Commission Chairman Peter Lake told Texans to contact their local energy providers if winter weather and icy conditions cause local power outages.
severe weather to carry on
Abbott said Texans in the north, west and central regions of the state should prepare for continued severe weather through Thursday.
He said parts of Texas could even experience flash flooding on Wednesday and Thursday.
More icy conditions were expected Wednesday from Texas across most of the MidSouth, the National Weather Service said. Additional ice accumulations of up to a half-inch were forecast across much of central and north-central Texas, as well as parts of southern Arkansas, he said.
«A quarter-inch of ice accumulation is possible over a larger area that includes southern Oklahoma, most of Arkansas and far west Tennessee,» he added, noting that this amount of ice accumulation in addition to what that has already fallen could lead to more «treacherous trips,» along with the possibility of tree damage and power outages.
Ice storm warnings, winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories are in effect for the hardest-hit areas and residents have been urged to check road conditions before traveling and drive with extreme caution, it said. .