CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CNN) — Treacherous driving conditions and canceled flights could keep residents stuck at home for days as a nasty mix of snow and ice have gripped the Southeast all day Sunday.
“Over 20 million people are under winter weather alerts, over 8 million people are under a flash flood threat, and over 9 million people are under wind advisories,” CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said Sunday.
Snowfall could total 12 to 20 inches over the Appalachians and into the Carolinas by Monday, when the storm is expected to move off the coast, the NWS said.
“Snowfall amounts in some locations will likely exceed a foot and result in several days of difficult or impossible travel, extended power outages, and downed trees,” the agency said.
The bulk of the outages are in North Carolina, where 244,807 customers are in the dark. In South Carolina, more than 225,600 customers have lost power.
And Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia each had about 20,000 and 30,000 customers are out of electricity.
Those hoping to escape the storm may be out of luck. More than 1,100 Sunday flights into and out of North Carolina’s Charlotte Douglas International Airport have been canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
More than half the Sunday flights at Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Piedmont Triad International Airport have also been called off.
