Winter storm Fern has left at least 80 dead and more than 300,000 businesses and residences across the United States without power as states rush to get grids back up and running.
Southern states face yet another winter storm within days, with a dangerous cold set to strike Jan. 30, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Tennessee and Mississippi have suffered the worst of power outages, with nearly 100,000 customers lacking power in each of the two states, according to poweroutage.us data. The National Weather Service predicted that arctic air will plunge the Southeast into temperatures within the teens late Jan. 30, even as many remain without power.
Well below normal temperatures will continue for the eastern half of the Lower 48 this week. Another blast of arctic air will spread from the Plains through the East/Southeast Friday into Saturday with more record lows expected even into Florida. https://t.co/MobJrFAlYx
— National Weather Service (@NWS) January 27, 2026
The University of Mississippi has announced that operations will not reopen for a second straight week. With power back on, personnel are working to clear debris. The school is set to reopen on Feb. 9. Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he mobilized 500 National Guard troops to clear out roads, the AP reported. (RELATED: Tropical Paradise Could See Due To Rare Gulf-Effect Event)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – JANUARY 26: In this aerial view, ice accumulates on utility lines on January 26, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. A massive winter storm is bringing frigid temperatures, ice, and snow to millions of Americans across the nation. The storm has left at least 10 people dead and hundreds of thousands without power. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Jan. 27 that gave Tennessee Department Of Transportation (TDOD) officials the clearance to clean up non-state roadways in order to speed up recovery efforts. The Nashville Electric Service announced Jan. 28 that they would have a total of 963 linemen and 257 vegetation management personnel deployed in the field by Jan. 29. (RELATED: Winter Storm Gianna: Nor’easter Could Develop Into Hurricane-Force Bomb Cyclone With Target On US Region)
Locals described the difficult conditions already plaguing Tennessee and Mississippi to the AP. “No one really knew that it was going to be like this, or how bad,” CJ Bynum, who assisted stranded drivers on Interstate 55 in the northern Mississippi area, said.
Harriet Wallace, a Nashville social services agency employee, said law enforcement and firefighters were conducting welfare checks on elderly whose families could not contact them using a phone. She said all of them were discovered still alive. For those lacking power who refused to leave their houses, cops were helping to secure necessities and charge phones, according to the AP.
“They are finding blanket and just sitting there with no TV, no power, nothing,” said Wallace. “Some are a little delirious.”