The Christmas holiday might not be so merry and bright for some state residents this year.
At least 1.6 million people have lost electricity and are waiting for it to return as of Saturday morning, all thanks to a “bomb cyclone” that hit the United States this week. The drastic change in weather has also put a hiccup in many people’s travel plans for the Christmas holiday, with thousands of flights either delayed or canceled as a storm precaution.
The following states have at least 50,000 or more residents who are without power on Christmas Eve.
North Carolina
The state with the most power outages going into the weekend is North Carolina, with 415,588 residents without power as of 10:40 a.m. EST. The number has more than doubled since Friday, when almost 200,000 were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.
Tennessee
The Volunteer State has close to 300,000 residents without power, with the total reaching 296,897 as of late Saturday morning.
“We encourage all Tennesseans to take extra precaution on roads & heed warnings from officials throughout the weekend,” Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) wrote on social media on Friday.
Thank you, @T_E_M_A, @TNHighwayPatrol and @myTDOT, for working to keep TN communities safe amid severe weather.
We encourage all Tennesseans to take extra precaution on roads & heed warnings from officials throughout the weekend.
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) December 23, 2022
Maine
The last state to have over 100,000 residents without power going into the weekend is Maine. As of 10:40 a.m. EST, the state has a total of 222,381 residents without electricity.
South Carolina
At the start of the weekend, 79,021 residents of the Palmetto State had no electricity.
New York
The Empire State does not have nearly as many outages as other states to its south, such as North Carolina and Tennessee, though it has well over 50,000 people without power as of Saturday morning, with the total right now being 69,833.
“If you must go outside, wear appropriate clothing, monitor for signs of hypothermia or frostbite, and take breaks,” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) wrote on social media. “Stay warm and stay safe, New York.”
Cold temperatures have created dangerous road conditions for today. Please continue to stay off the roads.
If you must go outside, wear appropriate clothing, monitor for signs of hypothermia or frostbite, and take breaks.
Stay warm and stay safe, New York.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 24, 2022
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is faring better than neighboring Maine as of Saturday morning, though not by much, with 61,670 people without power.
Virginia
The state of Virginia has 59,787 residents who are without power on Christmas Eve.
Georgia
As of Saturday morning, the state of Georgia has a total of 54,733 residents who have lost electricity going into Christmas.
“If you are traveling for the holidays, ensure your home is in good hands while you’re away,” Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) wrote on social media. “Check on elderly family and neighbors. Georgians are resilient. We will get through this freezing weather together.”
As temperatures continue to fall across Georgia, remain weather aware. If you are traveling for the holidays, ensure your home is in good hands while you're away. Check on elderly family and neighbors.
Georgians are resilient. We will get through this freezing weather together. https://t.co/UeNiTFqN0f
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) December 23, 2022
Kentucky
The Bluegrass State has 50,457 residents who are without power as of Saturday.
States with smaller power outages
States that have at least 10,000 residents without power include California, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
Winter is a drastic change in weather? Come on the citizens aren’t that gullible. We have had many snowy cold winters since I have been alive. Anything to promote the climate change scam.
Come on people, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!! They send our Strategic Reserve OVERSEAS earlier this year, and now this?? NOW we need the fuel oil for heat, but it will be $20/gal THANKS TO THE OBIDEN REGIME !!!
I don’t imagine too many EV owners will be leaving the house for a while.
Want to fix things? You people just keep voting these democrats into office that’ll do ya just fine. Yes sir all you wokesters are getting what you deserve and you’re taking the rest of us with you. That bastion of corruptness known as the Democrat Party has this country in one big cluster fudge. And Ya’All proudly did it to yourselves.