At least five people were killed Thursday in a massive crash involving 75 to 100 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate, police said, as a winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet, and snow on parts of the U.S.
The number of injured was still unknown as police were still working the accident on Interstate 35 near downtown Fort Worth, police said. Police set up a reunification center for family members at a community center.
Farther south, in Austin, more than two dozen vehicles were involved in a pileup on an icy road, and one person was injured, emergency officials said.
Elsewhere, ice storm warnings were in effect from Arkansas to Kentucky, while another winter storm was predicted to bring snow to Mid-Atlantic states, the National Weather Service said.
More than 125,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Thursday morning, largely in Kentucky and West Virginia, according to the website poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports.
Meanwhile, officials in central Kentucky were urging people to stay home due to icy conditions.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said state offices would be closed due to the weather. He declared a state of emergency, which he said would free up funding and help agencies coordinate as they respond to reports of slick roads and downed power lines.
Crews were responding to numerous calls of downed icy tree limbs and power lines, Lexington police said in a tweet that urged people not to travel “unless absolutely necessary.”
Instagram has launched a feature that urges teenagers to take breaks from the photo-sharing platform and announced other tools aimed at protecting young users from harmful content on the Facebook-owned service.
Refinery29 has launched their new gaming series, ‘GG,’ which features leading women and non-binary gamers through the lens of identity, entrepreneurship, wellbeing, community, self-expression, and personal beauty. Melissah Yang, entertainment director at Refinery29 joins Cheddar News to discuss the launch and how 'GG' is changing the game.
Hawaii Flooding, Beijing Boycott & Disrupting Death
The White House says the U.S. will stage a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest Chinese human rights abuses.
Santa is back to “sleighing” it on the slopes. More than 230 skiing and snowboarding Kris Kringles took to a western Maine resort on sunday to raise money for charity.
Carlo and Baker catch you up on what you missed over the weekend, starting with the latest, somewhat encouraging, developments re: Omicron.
The parents of a teen accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
It's Friday at long last. Jill and Carlo cover the latest on Omicron, including a possible superspreader event in NYC. Plus, previewing the November jobs report, a new Zoom feature no one asked for, and when it's no longer a good idea to eat Thanksgiving leftovers.
Cheddar recs "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Season 15 premiere, "The Beatles: Get Back," "tick, tick...Boom!," and "Friday After Next."
Extreme weather and supply chain disruptions have reduced supplies of both real and artificial trees this season.
