At least 6 dead as massive winter storm cripples US

At least six deaths were reported as a massive winter storm pummeled eastern and southern states in the US on Sunday with freezing rain, heavy snow and icy roads, shutting down airports and highways and knocking out power to more than a million people as it gained intensity.

The storm has dropped temperatures in many states to below freezing, according to multiple media outlets.

Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas have been hit the hardest so far, with accumulating ice snapping power lines, causing electricity outages and crippling major cities like Atlanta, Houston and Nashville, where most businesses and school districts have shut down as a preventative public safety measure.

According to the PowerOutage.us website, which tracks outages across the United States, Tennessee has suffered the most blackouts, with up to 339,000 customers without power as of mid-afternoon Sunday. Nearly 180,000 people in Mississippi are without power and almost 150,000 customers in Louisiana are in the dark. Texas and Georgia each have nearly 100,000 customers without electricity and emergency crews are working around the clock to try and restore power as quickly as possible.

Heavy snow is also wreaking havoc in the Midwest, including Ohio, where major cities like Cincinnati and Columbus have gotten 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 centimeters) so far. Nearly a foot (30 centimeters) of snow has accumulated in the state's southwestern cities of Dayton and Springfield, with city officials urging residents to stay off the icy roads and highways and remain at home.

"It is really, really dangerous out there," said Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther in a video statement. "You should be at home unless there is an absolute emergency."

Other states have also been inundated by the heavy snowfall, including Arkansas (8 inches/20 centimeters), Illinois (11 inches/28 centimeters), Indiana (13 inches/33 centimeters), Kansas (12 inches/30 centimeters), Missouri (7 inches/18 centimeters) and Oklahoma (6 inches/15 centimeters). Parts of North Texas received 5 inches (13 centimeters) of snowfall, according to weather forecasters.

The Northeast has also been slammed with snowfall, with New Jersey receiving 10 inches (25 centimeters), New York seven inches (18 centimeters) and Pennsylvania 9 inches (23 centimeters).

More than 16,000 flights across the US have been canceled so far due to the winter storm, with thousands more flights delayed at airports across the US. Major cities experiencing cancellations and delays include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

Forecasters said the deep freeze is expected to last for many states through the early part of the week as the storm lingers across a large swath of the US.