States Call Out National Guard to Help Battle Huge Winter Storm

The National Guard pitched in Tuesday to help dig out the Ohio Valley from 30 inches of snow, while single-digit temperatures reached into the Deep South.

Temperatures in Mississippi and Alabama plunged to 7 degrees, and to 10 below zero in Louisville, Ky., weather officials said.

“I don’t mind the cold, but God, this is unbelievable,” said David O’Cull in Madison, Wis., where it was 27 below zero. With the windchill factored in, it felt like 70 below.

The weather has been blamed for 47 deaths since last week.

Thousands of people were without electricity after heavy snow and ice from Monday’s storm weighed down power lines.

States of emergency continued in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia because of the snow. Interstate highways remained closed throughout Kentucky.

Ohio officials sent more than 100 National Guard personnel and 50 emergency vehicles to help dig out counties in southern Ohio, where up to 30 inches of snow fell Monday. West Virginia National Guard troops cleared roads and helped in medical emergencies in seven counties. The Guard was also at work in Kentucky.

In Parkersburg, W. Va., which received 18 inches of snow, two dozen tenants retrieved belongings Tuesday from a one-story apartment building whose snow-laden roof collapsed during the night.

In Pennsylvania, a 30-mile stretch of eastbound Interstate 80 was closed Tuesday between Bloomsburg and Hazleton because of jackknifed tractor-trailer trucks.

Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson ordered schools closed statewide to make sure that no youngsters had to wait at bus stops with windchills as low as 75 below zero.

“When it gets this cold, it’s just too dangerous,” said Robert Hanson, school superintendent in the Wisconsin town of Rhinelander. “If in this weather one of the buses goes down, you don’t have much time to get those 60 to 70 kids somewhere with heat.”

Tuesday’s record low temperatures for the date ranged from 34 below zero at Devils Lake, N.D., and 26 below at Green Bay, Wis., to 9 below at Lexington, Ky. Chicago’s 21 below erased the record of 16 below that had been on the books since 1930.

Tuesday morning’s coldest location in the Lower 48 was Tyler, Minn., with a low of 44 below zero.

The frigid air was pushing southward, and Tupelo, Miss., had a low of 7 degrees. The forecast for today was for a low of about 4 degrees, the National Weather Service reported.

In Atlanta, several broken water mains prompted Mayor Bill Campbell to advise residents to conserve water by not bathing or washing dishes.