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AUSTIN, Feb. 1 (AP) Sleet and snow bands paralyzed traffic in the middle of the country, canceled thousands of flights and killed six people, leading to a third day of dangerous conditions in several southern states on Wednesday .
Watches and warnings extend from Texas to West Virginia. Forecasters said several rounds of mixed precipitation, including freezing rain and sleet, were expected in many areas throughout the day, meaning some areas could be hit multiple times.
By Wednesday morning, more than 1,400 flights scheduled to leave on Wednesday had been canceled nationwide, according to tracking service FlightAware. The cancellation list includes major airports in Dallas as well as airports in Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee.
As ice and sleet blanketed Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis-Shelby County Schools announced it would cancel classes Wednesday due to freezing rain and dangerous road conditions. The school system has approximately 100,000 students. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis was also closed due to the weather.
The Dallas Independent School District, with about 145,000 students, also canceled classes on Wednesday.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott urged people not to drive as emergency crews rushed to hundreds of vehicle crashes in Texas on Tuesday. At least six people have died on slick Texas roads since Monday, including three in a crash near Brownfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Lubbock, on Tuesday, authorities said. Two state law enforcement officers were seriously injured.
In Arkansas, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency Tuesday due to icy conditions. Her statement cited “potentially multiple power lines” and said road conditions were causing a backlog of deliveries for commercial drivers. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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