Fox News reporter Sarah Alegre joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ from Nashville, Tennessee, to discuss the power outages sweeping across the US as snow piled up from a winter storm knocks down power lines.
More than a million Americans were without power Sunday afternoon as a historic winter storm battered large parts of the US.
As of 2:35 pm ET, Tennessee was the worst affected state, with nearly 306,700 customers experiencing outages. Mississippi followed with about 175,300, and Louisiana reported about 145,100, according to data from PowerOutage.us.
Major outages were also reported in Texas, where about 93,000 people lost power, as well as Georgia with 80,700, Kentucky with 69,500, West Virginia with 35,500, and Alabama with 31,800.
MAJOR WINTER STORM STRUGGLES POWER GRID AS CREW scrambles to avoid blackout
Workers clear snow from the sidewalk during a snowfall in Times Square, as a major winter storm sweeps across the United States, in New York City on Jan. 25, 2026. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters/Reuters)
The number of outages increased throughout the day.
Earlier Sunday morning, as of 10:47 a.m. ET, about 850,000 Americans were without power, according to Reuters, citing PowerOutage.us.
Meanwhile, at least 290,000 customers in Tennessee and more than 100,000 each in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana were affected. Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia and Alabama also reported widespread outages.
A major winter storm has put a severe strain on the US power grid, leaving operators scrambling to prevent blackouts.
The storm also severely disrupted air travel. More than 10,000 American flights were canceled on Sunday, according to FlightAware, following more than 4,000 cancellations on Saturday.
STORE SHELVES CLEAR AS AMERICANS COOL OUT OF BIG WINTER STORM
A man pushes his car through the snow as Winter Storm Fern leaves motorists stranded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Jan. 25, 2026, in this screenshot from the video. (Eric Cox/Reuters/Reuters)
Covering nearly 2,000 miles, the storm is expected to intensify Sunday, with heavy snow forecast to continue from the Ohio Valley to the Northeast through Monday, the National Weather Service said.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued emergency orders to prevent power outages, according to Reuters.
On Saturday, the agency allowed Texas grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to use backup generators at large facilities, including data centers.
On Sunday, it authorized PJM Interconnection to use certain mid-Atlantic power resources to cross the mid-Atlantic region without federal and state restrictions, Reuters reported.
US AIRLINES ISSUING TRAVEL WAIVERS, ANNOUNCE CANCELLATIONS AHEAD OF WINTER STORM
Children are brought near the US Capitol building as a major winter storm sweeps across much of the United States, in Washington, DC, on Jan. 25, 2026. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/Reuters)
President Trump on Saturday approved emergency declarations for South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, and West Virginia.
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“We are working closely with FEMA, Governors and State Emergency Management teams to ensure everyone’s safety,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Stay Safe, and Stay Warm!”
