More than 1 million Americans were without power on Sunday afternoon as a historic winter storm swept across large parts of the US
As of 2:35 PM ET, Tennessee was the hardest-hit state, with approximately 306,700 customers experiencing outages. Mississippi followed with about 175,300 outages, while Louisiana reported about 145,100, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
Significant outages were also reported in Texas, where about 93,000 people lost power, as well as in Georgia with 80,700, Kentucky with 69,500, West Virginia with 35,500 and Alabama with 31,800.
A HUGE WINTER STORM PUTS OUR ELECTRICITY NETWORK UNDER OPERATORS TO PREVENT BLACKOUTS
Workers remove snow from the sidewalk during snowfall around Times Square as a major winter storm spreads across much of the United States in New York City on January 25, 2026. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters/Reuters)
Failure rates increased throughout the day.
Earlier Sunday morning, at 10:47 a.m. ET, about 850,000 Americans were without power, according to Reuters, citing PowerOutage.us.
At that time, at least 290,000 customers in Tennessee and more than 100,000 customers in Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana were affected. Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama also reported widespread outages.
The massive winter storm has put severe strain on the U.S. power grid, leaving operators scrambling to prevent broader power outages.
The storm also seriously disrupted air traffic. According to FlightAware, more than 10,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Sunday, following more than 4,000 cancellations on Saturday.
STORE SHELVES ARE CLEANING AS AMERICANS PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM A HUGE WINTER STORM
A man pushes his car amid snowfall as Winter Storm Fern leaves drivers stranded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 25, 2026, in this screenshot from the video. (Eric Cox/Reuters/Reuters)
The storm will cover about 2,000 miles and is expected to peak on Sunday, with heavy snow forecast from the Ohio Valley northeast through Monday, the National Weather Service said.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued emergency orders to prevent power outages, according to Reuters.
On Saturday, the agency allowed Texas grid operator Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to use backup generators at large facilities, including data centers.
On Sunday, it authorized PJM Interconnection to exploit certain energy resources in the mid-Atlantic region regardless of state and environmental restrictions, Reuters reported.
US AIRLINES ISSUES TRAVEL WAIVERS, ANNOUNCES CANCELLATIONS FOR WIDE WINTER STORM
Children sled near the U.S. Capitol as a major winter storm spreads across much of the United States on January 25, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/Reuters)
President Trump on Saturday approved federal emergency declarations for South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and West Virginia.
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“We are working closely with FEMA, governors and State Emergency Management teams to ensure the safety of everyone,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Stay safe and stay warm!”
