Ice storm freezes tropical South US

The Atlanta southbound connector is clogged with traffic as the connector northbound is an empty sheet of ice due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia. A rare ice storm turned Atlanta into a slippery mess on Wednesday, stranding thousands for hours on frozen roadways and raising questions about how city leaders prepared for and handled the cold snap that slammed the U.S. South. The storm, which has killed at least seven people, on Tuesday swept over a region of about 60 million largely unaccustomed to ice and snow - stretching from Texas through Georgia and into the Carolinas - and forecasts called for more freezing weather on Thursday. (Reuters)

A band of snow and freezing rain is pictured over the southeastern United States, stretching from Texas through Georgia and into the Carolinas handout satellite image provided by NASA. The rare winter storm killed at least six people, stranded children in their schools overnight and paralyzed travel in several states, including hundreds of flight cancellations at the world's busiest airport. (Reuters)

Matthew Miller walks along the Southbound Connector offering peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hot drinks to motorists stuck in traffic due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia.
Students camped out with teachers in school gyms or on buses and commuters abandoned cars along the highway to seek shelter in churches, fire stations, even grocery stores, after a rare snowstorm left thousands of unaccustomed Southerners frozen in their tracks. (Reuters)

Abandoned cars litter the roadway on the Southbound Connector due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia.
Georgia State Patrol troopers headed to schools where children were hunkered down today after spending the night there, and transportation crews continued to treat roads and bring gas to motorists, Deal said. (Reuters)

Georgia Gov Nathan Deal said early today that the National Guard was sending military Humvees onto Atlanta's snarled freeway system in an attempt to move stranded school buses and get food and water to people.
Georgia National Guard troops Sgt. Chad Armstrong (L) and Command Sgt. Maj. Buddy Grisham help people get their stranded cars out of the snow in Atlanta, Georgia. (Reuters)

Around Atlanta, nearly all public entities and most businesses were shut down today. Officials encouraged would-be motorists not to drive. City buses were not running, and some commuters who opted for rail service met new frustrations as they stood on platforms awaiting trains into the city center.
Two women retrieve their stranded car from Interstate 285 in Atlanta, Georgia. The women left the car by the interstate the night before after getting stuck in the ice and snow. (Reuters)

Workers shovel snow off a deck after Royal Caribbean's cruise ship, Explorer of the Seas arrived back at Bayonne, New Jersey. An outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness has forced the ship back to port early and left hundreds of passengers and crew stricken according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Reuters)

A teacher at E. Rivers Elementary school covers sleeping children in the gym in Atlanta. A rare snowstorm left thousands across the U.S. South frozen in their tracks, with workers sleeping in their offices, students camping in their schools, and commuters abandoning cars along the highway to seek shelter in churches or even grocery stores. (AP)

Cody Carpp, left, and Michael Gane, both of Mobile, Ala., walk through Bienville Square as ice covers downtown Mobile and temperatures remain below freezing on Wednesday.
The ice and snow storm that hit Alabama was wider and more severe than some officials expected. (AP)

Overnight, the South saw fatal crashes and hundreds of fender-bendersIce shut down bridges on Florida's panhandle and Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, one of the world's longest spans. A truck blocks all east-bound lanes of Interstate 285 in Sandy Spring in Atlanta. Some interstates remained clogged by jackknifed 18-wheelers Wednesday afternoon, more than 24 hours after snow began falling on the city. (AP)

In this aerial photo taken with a fisheye lens looking south toward downtown Atlanta, the ice-covered interstate system shows the remnants of a winter snow storm in Atlanta. While such amounts of accumulation barely quality as a storm in the north, it was enough to paralyze the Deep South. (AP)

In this aerial view looking south toward downtown Atlanta, the ice-covered interstate system shows the remnants of a winter snow storm Wednesday in Atlanta. While such amounts of accumulation barely quality as a storm in the north, it was enough to paralyze the Deep South. (AP)

Traffic moves slowly on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, S.C. A rare snowstorm left thousands across the U.S. South frozen in their tracks, with workers sleeping in their offices, students camping in their schools, and commuters abandoning cars along the highway to seek shelter in churches or even grocery stores. (AP)