Winter weather: More than 60 million warnings during winter weather as rain and snow affect the East Coast

However, about 60 million people were under advice or warnings about the winter weather on Friday morning, and about 30 million were under a warning for severe freezing.

Slow warming can be expected in the South, but according to the National Weather Service, temperatures will be much lower than normal over the weekend.

A system in the Northwest is expected to deliver rain and mountain snow. And the NWS warns that a ‘cold front will produce a winter mix in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with heavy rains that could cause a rapid flooding in the southeast.’ But by next week, the temperature is expected to rise into the 60s and 70s.

Winter weather since February 11 has killed at least 38 people across the country.

Power outages for hundreds of thousands

Power is still not back in many homes in Texas, where a deep freeze from Sunday paralyzed electricity generation of electricity services, which residents after alternative heating by generators, fireplaces, living in running cars or hiding in powered heating centers or businesses.
More than 180,000 homes and businesses in Texas were still without power on Friday morning, down from 4.5 million earlier in the week, according to utility PowerOutage.us.
Why water is currently a major problem for Texans

Elsewhere in the country, about 400,000 other customers were without power Friday morning, including about 110,000 in Mississippi.

In Texas, power outages also wreaked havoc on water supplies, in part because frozen water lines burst. In homes themselves, cracked pipes also damaged numerous homes and businesses.

About 13 million Texans, nearly half of the state’s population, were under boiling water advice Thursday, according to Texas Environmental Quality Commission executive director Toby Baker. More than 700 water supply systems are affected.

President Joe Biden spoke to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday, promising that the federal government will work with state and local governments to bring relief and address the critical needs of families affected by the weather.

Ehren Williamson told CNN he counts himself among the lucky Texans after recovering his power and water over the past 24 hours. But now Williamson has to worry about finding food to eat and drinking water, because there is still an advice for boiling water.

“We went to several HE-Bs and searched for food for about six to eight hours on Tuesday,” he told CNN by telephone from Pflugerville, Texas.

Williamson waited an hour at a HEB in line today. Once inside the store, there was no water to be found anywhere.

“We had no warning,” he said. “We got the impression it was not going to go bad. I did not even see the warnings for eclipse. It just got dark.”

When warned, he said he would charge food, water and a backup generator.

Snow plows are clearing the roads in Barnegat Township, New Jersey.

Other states also deal with snow and ice

Texas is not the only state that feels the rage of winter weather.

In Wayne, Pennsylvania, people are scrambling to clear the slippery snow before it freezes, causing dangerous conditions, according to CNN’s subsidiary 3CBS Philly. Wayne received ten inches of snow during the storm. And now people are worried about what is left after washing the sidewalks and driveways, freezing them and smoothing the roads.

In North Carolina, some school districts in the Piedmont triad area are canceling classes or going to online classes on Friday to keep students safe, according to CNN affiliate WXII 12. A few schools are still planning to teach in person, but plan to to start or three hours later than usual.
In Winston-Salem, a number of vehicles were crushed in a parking lot when a tree uprooted and fell during the ice storm on Thursday morning, reports WXII 12.

“Well, it sounded like someone blew up some dynamite as it came down and just hit it very hard,” resident Hope Woods told WXII 12. ‘We were brushing our teeth and I was like’ OK, I hear a lot of commotion. ‘So we look out the window and there’s this giant tree smashed on all the cars. ‘

Repairs are underway as thousands of customers are still without power in Mississippi after an ice storm.

But despite the hardships faced across the country, there are stories of hope.

A Philadelphia resident offers free rides to essential workers, especially those in the health care sector, according to CNN affiliate WPVI. Ian Poush has been driving doctors, nurses or any medical support staff who need help getting from their shift to work or home, but cannot navigate the icy roads.

“Your regular hospital staff who had to be there, your maintenance staff, your security guards, they are also essential. Yes, they do not treat patients directly, but the doctors and nurses need them there,” Poush told WPVI. And he encourages others to help in their communities as well.

Workers clear snow in Huntington, West Virginia.

Warmer temperatures ahead

There are still more than 25 million in a freeze warning in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. But by the end of the weekend, the temperature will slowly drop outside the freezing point. And by next week, they are expected to be in their 60s and 70s.

In the northeast, more than 60 million are under warnings about the winter weather, but an overwhelming majority of them expire by the end of Friday. Ice accumulation is expected in parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And by the end of the storm system, many of the Northeast will see at least one to three inches of snow.

The eastern parts of the Carolinas and Georgia are under a flash flood and expect to receive about one to two inches of rainfall.

CNN’s Robert Shackelford contributed to this story.

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