Washington, Jan 25 : A powerful winter storm has swept across much of the United States, knocking out electricity for more than 500,000 customers and forcing widespread travel disruptions. The storm, described by forecasters as unusually expansive and long-lasting, is bringing snow, sleet, freezing rain, and record-breaking cold to the eastern two-thirds of the country.

By Sunday morning, Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee each reported over 100,000 outages, while Louisiana and New Mexico also faced significant disruptions. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that 17 states and the District of Columbia have declared weather emergencies.

President Donald Trump approved federal disaster declarations in 12 states, including Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina, urging residents to stay safe and warm. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned of “very, very cold” conditions and advised Americans to stock up on food and fuel.

The Department of Energy issued emergency orders to grid operators in Texas and the mid-Atlantic region, allowing them to deploy backup generation resources to limit blackouts. Dominion Energy, which operates in Virginia, said the storm could be one of the largest to ever impact its network.

Air travel has been hit hard. Flight tracking service FlightAware reported more than 9,600 cancellations scheduled for Sunday, following 4,000 cancellations on Saturday. Delta Air Lines adjusted schedules in Atlanta and along the East Coast, JetBlue canceled about 1,000 flights through Monday, and United Airlines suspended flights in areas expected to be worst affected.

Forecasters warned of “crippling to locally catastrophic impacts” in the Southeast due to heavy ice accumulation, while dangerously cold wind chills are expected to spread into the Great Plains by Monday.

With power crews racing to restore electricity and airlines scrambling to manage cancellations, millions of Americans are bracing for one of the most disruptive winter storms in recent memory.