At least 7 dead, 1 million without power in US winter storm

11:14 am on 26 January 2026

At least seven people have died in a massive storm sweeping across the US mid-Atlantic and South.

The major weather system has created hazardous conditions from Texas to New England, prompting warnings to stay off roads, along with mass flight cancellations and power outages.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced the first storm-related death in Texas at a news conference Sunday (local time).

Watson urged residents to continue to stay inside and use local resources if they need help.

"I can't stress enough the importance of staying indoors during this severe weather, even though we've made it through the night ... We are still in store for very, very cold weather," he warned.

People walk across Sixth Avenue as snow falls in New York City on January 25, 2026. A massive winter storm on January 24 dumped snow and freezing rain from New Mexico to North Carolina as it swept across the United States towards the northeast, threatening tens of millions of Americans with blackouts, transportation chaos and bone-chilling cold. After battering the country's southwest and central areas, the storm system began to hit the heavily populated mid-Atlantic and northeastern states as a frigid air mass settled in across the nation. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

People walk across Sixth Avenue as snow falls in New York City on 25 January 2026. Photo: AFP / Charly Triballeau

Other deaths have been reported in Louisiana and earlier in New York City.

More than 17,000 flights - an extraordinary amount - have been cancelled across the US as airports shut down.

Meanwhile, schools in major cities across the US have closed or moved classes to remote learning for Monday (local time).

Power has been knocked out for more than 1 million customers across the affected states, according to tracking website PowerOutage.us.

MRMS radar reflectivity & HRRR precipitation type over the last 24 hours. An absolutely massive storm pic.twitter.com/XhVxMjXY61
— Tomer Burg (@burgwx) January 25, 2026

Southern states where ice has accumulated and caused tree limbs to fall on power lines have the most outages, but the outage footprint is expanding into the mid-Atlantic.

Tennessee had more than 330,000 customers without power, Mississippi more than 160,000, Louisiana more than 135,000 and Texas more than 90,000.

The outages could last for days.

Tornado Warning including Youngstown FL, Fountain FL and Econfina FL until 3:15 PM CST pic.twitter.com/cguc9PRVSY
— NWS Tornado (@NWStornado) January 25, 2026

Heavy snow was falling in the Northeast's highly populous Interstate-95 corridor with some cities, including Boston, expecting their most snow in years.

The same sprawling storm system was also causing damaging winds and tornadoes in the Southeast.

Tornadoes have been reported in Alabama, Florida and Florida, with a tornado watch in place until 7pm Eastern Time (1pm NZST).

- CNN Live Coverage