Icy Snowstorms Wreak Havoc in South, Midwest

Winter cast an icy spell on the South Thursday, pushing temperatures to record lows, sending farmers into their fields to protect threatened crops and adding to the misery caused by flooding rivers.

In the Midwest, police delivered food and supplies to stranded residents while snowpacked roads hindered crews trying to restore power to thousands of homes after this week’s late winter snowstorms.

The strong chill descended into Florida, where it chased spring break college students from the beaches but appeared to have left orange crops undamaged.

Georgia rivers spilled across fertile farms Thursday, casting doubt on whether the state’s unplanted watermelon crop would be ready for harvest by the Fourth of July.

In Atlanta, the temperature plunged to 19, which is 5 degrees below the date’s record low, and the windchill factor was minus 4.

Peach and strawberry farmers in Georgia and South Carolina braced for a third straight night of freezing temperatures. Strawberry farmers sprayed their fields with water, hoping a thin layer of ice would let the plants retain protective warmth against the much colder air.

In York, S.C., near the state’s northern border, farmer Ben Smith estimated he may have lost more than 40% of his crop as a dusting of spring snow blanketed his orchards.

Heavy rainfall stretching from Louisiana to Georgia last weekend killed five people in Alabama, two in Louisiana and five in Georgia.

The Flint River coursed over its banks through the streets of Albany, Ga., where 400 National Guardsmen tried to keep the river at bay Thursday with sandbags.

About 11,000 people in Albany, 250 miles south of Atlanta, were evacuated from their homes. President Clinton declared a disaster area in the three counties around Albany.

Snow that fell earlier in the week continued to be a problem in the Midwest, where a glaze of ice frosted snowpacked roads, hindering utility crews trying to restore electricity to 20,000 northern Indiana customers.

Police in Gary, Ind., delivered food and supplies to those holed up in unheated homes in subfreezing temperatures.

Temperatures dipped into the 40s in much of Florida, about 30 degrees below normal.