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Parts of Florida Panhandle shut down by historical winter storm

A historical January storm disposed more deep snow along the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday after bringing Houston and New Orleans to a near grinding halt over the previous two days and burying parts of Florida's Panhandle with accumulations more normal of Chicago.

Another 4 inches (10 cm) of snow, integrated with sleet and freezing rain, was expected to pile up in some areas in northern Florida, southern Georgia and southeast South Carolina as the storm crawled through the region, the National Weather Service stated on Wednesday.

Florida may have currently broken its all-time record of snowfall with 9 inches in the western Panhandle town of Milton, near Pensacola, according to Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the National Weather condition Service's Weather Forecast Center.

Before this storm, Milton Mayor Heather Lindsay said she had not seen a snowflake fall in town since 2014.

We're taking it in stride, however everything is shut, stated Lindsay. The city has no snow plows and most locals don't. even own a snow shovel, she stated.

However the kids are out using kayaks and inner tubes as sleds,. taking pleasure in a snow day, she stated.

After the rainfall dissipates later Wednesday,. freezing air will stay along the Gulf Coast and the East Coast. a minimum of up until this weekend.

The cold is staying, Pereira said.

Tallahassee, Florida's capital city, where temperature levels are. usually in the 60s in January, was expected to see a low of 4. degrees Fahrenheit (-15 degrees Celsius) on Wednesday.

The winter storm had already knocked major Gulf Coast cities. such as Houston, where 4 inches (10 cm) of snow fell, the most. the city has gotten given that 1960. In the New Orleans location, a. record 10 inches (25 cm) of snow collected in some locations,. turning Bourbon Street white on Tuesday.

SNOW A RARITY IN LOUISIANA

Justin Daffron, primary advancement officer at Covenant Home. in New Orleans, stated its shelter was operating at full capability. but handling to keep up with demand despite the fact that snow emergencies. are virtually unidentified in Louisiana.

I think this is various since typhoons in New Orleans. are commonplace, and we are unaccustomed to the extreme winter season. weather, he said. It took everybody by surprise since for. those of us who have had winter season weather here before, it was. generally a dusting.

The storm has eliminated at least 12 people, consisting of 5 in. Zavala County, Texas, early on Tuesday in a cars and truck mishap on. Highway 57, according to the Texas Department of Public Security. Two other Texas deaths were reportedly brought on by exposure to the. cold in Austin, officials revealed.

Other cold-related deaths were reported in Alabama and. Georgia, authorities announced.

Some 38 million people throughout the region were under winter. storm and severe cold warnings on Wednesday, the National. Weather Service stated, warning individuals about the threats of. frostbite, hypothermia and roadway travel.

These travel effects might stick around for a number of days given the. historical heavy build-ups combined with freezing temperatures,. in addition to the lack of devices for clearing roadways compared to. locations further north, the service said.

More than 150,000 homes and companies lacked power. from Texas east into Georgia and Florida, according to. Poweroutage.us. Lots of schools and city government workplaces were. closed, while many highways throughout the region were slick,. covered with snow and ice.

Airports including Houston's George Bush Intercontinental. Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were. briefly closed over night and at an early stage Wednesday, because of. the storm, and more than 1,400 flights were canceled in the. U.S., many in the southeast and another 1,200 were postponed,. according to the tracking site, Flightaware.com.

U.S. melted natural gas company Freeport LNG said on. Wednesday it closed its export plant in Texas on Jan. 21 due to. a power feed issue throughout the winter storm, and will keep it. shut until power supply supports.

The U.S. Northeast was dealing with another day of frigid cold. temperature levels. The most affordable temperature level tape-recorded in the contiguous. United States on Wednesday was a severe -27 degrees Fahrenheit.

(source: Reuters)