Christmas Storm Death Toll Rises as Storm Churns North
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Indianapolis International Airport where more than 130 flights have been cancelled so far on Dec. 26, 2012 due to weather. (Linda Horton/ABC News)(NEW YORK) — A killer Christmas storm is churning its way north leaving hundreds of thousands without power and snarling travel plans for people trying to get home after the holiday.
Six people have died, mostly in weather related car crashes, as the South was hammered by as many as 34 tornadoes and a lethal coating of sleet and snow that spread from the South into the Midwest.
More than 280,000 customers are without power across the South with 100,000 without power in Little Rock, Ark. alone.
The wild weather isn’t over. Eighteen states from Tennessee to Maine are under winter storm warnings, blizzard warnings and advisories. Between one and two feet of snow is expected from Indianapolis to Cleveland to Syracuse, N.Y. and into Maine.
The number of flight cancellations nationwide is growing by the hour on one of the busiest travel days of the holiday season. By Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. more than 1,300 flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.com.
“Traveling will definitely be affected as people go home for the holidays,” Bob Oravec, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service, told ABC News. “Anywhere from the Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and the Northeast, there’s definitely going to be travel issues as we have heavy snow and some very high winds.”
Flights were disrupted in traffic hubs like Indianapolis International Airport because of heavy snowfall, as well as Dallas/Fort Worth which was hit with five inches of snow on Christmas, a rarity for the city.
Cancellations and delays are expected to ripple into the Northeast where high winds, flooding and more than a foot of snow in some areas is expected.
Heavy winds could further complicate matters for travelers. According to Flightaware.com, fliers are experiencing delays up to an hour in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Severe weather on Christmas day spawned 34 tornado reports from Texas to Alabama.
In Mobile, Ala., a wide funnel cloud barreled across the city. The punishing winds mangled Mobile’s graceful ante-bellum homes, and now residents are picking through debris while rescue crews search for people trapped in the rubble.
The last time a number of tornadoes hit the Gulf Coast area around Christmas Day was in 2009, when 22 tornadoes struck on Christmas Eve morning, National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro told ABC News.
Tuesday’s extreme weather caused an 8-foot deep sinkhole in Vicksburg, Miss.
Oklahoma got about seven inches of snow across the state, making for treacherous road conditions. A 21-car pile-up in Oklahoma City temporarily shut down a major roadway through the state. No one was seriously injured.
Arkansas also got a rare Christmas Day snow storm, with an estimated 10 inches falling on Fayetteville, Ark., limiting roadway visibility.
In Northern California, residents were socked with the third storm in three days. Wet weather spread from the Bay area through the Sierras and delayed inbound flights at San Francisco International airport, and caused a landslide in Oakland, almost crushing one driver to death.
[ VIEW SLIDESHOW: Wild Weather for Christmas ]
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