Snowplows clear accumulated snow at LaGuardia Airport in New York, US. Photo: Xinhua

A large-scale winter storm that has swept across multiple parts of the US since Friday at one point left more than 1 million users without electricity, with the severe cold already resulted in multiple deaths, latest data showed as of Sunday afternoon local time, reported local media.

According to PowerOutage.us, a website that tracks real-time power outages, about 1.07 million customers were without power as of 4 pm Eastern Time on Sunday. Southern states including Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas were among the hardest hit. Power outage rates in Tennessee and Mississippi exceeded 10 percent. The number of affected customers later fell to about 897,000.

NBC reported that 23 states, stretching from the southern US to the Northeast, have declared states of emergency.

Roughly 185 million people were under winter weather alerts on Sunday as dangerous cold gripped much of the central and eastern US. Wind chills in some areas plunged into minus 20s and minus 30s Fahrenheit, while temperatures were 10 to 40 degrees below average, according to CNBC.

Multiple media outlets, citing a meteorologist from the US National Weather Service, reported that as of Sunday morning, various winter weather warnings across the country covered approximately 213 million people.

Snowfall totals have already exceeded 8 inches in Arkansas, 11 inches in Illinois and Ohio, 13 inches in Indiana, 8 inches in Kansas, 12 inches in Missouri, 7 inches in Oklahoma, 6 inches in Texas, and 5 inches in Tennessee, according to ABC News.

Rachel (Pseudonym), a Chinese resident living in Tennessee, told the Global Times on Sunday that a powerful blizzard swept through Nashville on Saturday night local time and continued into the early hours of the next day. She said that almost the entire city suddenly lost power, and local reports indicated that nearly 70,000 households in Davidson County were without electricity.

“The scariest thing was the silence,” said Rachael. “The streetlights were out, and residential areas and shops were unusually quiet. Through the window, I could see snow and strong winds snapping tree branches and damaging power lines. Now it makes sense why people were panic-buying groceries over the weekend.”

While in the Northeast, snow totals reached 12 inches in New Jersey, 11 inches in New York and 15 inches in Pennsylvania, per ABC.

As the storm intensified, panic buying was reported in several parts of the country. A Chinese student studying in New York surnamed Han told the Global Times that a Trader Joe’s supermarket on 96th Street in NYC was almost completely sold out over the weekend.

“Especially in the produce and frozen food sections, there were barely any boxes left,” Han said.

New York City Mayor Mamdani said on Sunday that at least five people had died outdoors during the snowy weekend. Local police said the victims appeared to be homeless and investigations are underway to determine whether the deaths were caused by exposure to extreme cold. NBC, citing Louisiana’s health department, reported that two men in the state died from hypothermia linked to the winter storm. CNN reported that the snow has caused several schools canceling class, and will linger into the week, raising fears for those without shelter or power for days.

Han said that snow-melting agents were spread across NYC from early morning as the snow reached around 40 centimeters. “During the day the city felt mostly normal, but snow could even be seen on subway platforms,” he said.

According to ABC News, more than 11,000 flights were canceled on Sunday within, into, or out of the US. Sunday was expected to be one of the largest weather-related flight cancellation days in US history. At least 2,500 additional flights have already been canceled for Monday.

The massive winter storm has brought widespread heavy snowfall, sleet, freezing rain, and extreme cold. The US National Weather Service said the storm is expected to continue through Monday in much of the country, followed by very low temperatures, causing “dangerous travel and infrastructure impacts” to linger for several days.