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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST
A driver uses a mobile phone in a car after running off the roadway due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia

A snowstorm in the southern United States has brought several cities to a standstill, despite early warnings about expected severe weather.

Students spent the night on buses or at schools, commuters abandoned their cars or slept in them and interstates turned into parking lots.

The problems started when schools, businesses and government offices all let out at the same time.

As people waited in gridlock, snow accumulated, the roads froze, cars ran out of gas and tractor-trailers jack-knifed, blocking equipment that could have treated some of the roads.

Let’s see glimpses of the rare snowstorm that pummelled Southern US

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

Icicles hang from a camellia shrub after a rare ice storm blanked the normally warm historic city of Charleston, South Carolina

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

Kienan Dietrich sleeps at the aisle of a Publix grocery store after being stranded due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

Caution tape is wrapped around a vehicle that crashed into a tree after the driver lost contol yesterday during a winter storm in Snellville, Georgia

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

Georgia National Guard troops help people get their stranded cars out of the snow in Atlanta, Georgia

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

Traffic is stalled on I-65 North after a snow and ice storm stranded commuters on the interstates and local roads into Birmingham, Alabama

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

People rest at the aisle of a Publix grocery store after being stranded due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

People rest at the aisle of a Publix grocery store after being stranded due to a snow storm in Atlanta, Georgia

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

Icicles are seen forming on a fountain at Jackson Square Park in New Orleans, Louisiana

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What a rare snowstorm did to southern US

January 30, 2014 13:07 IST

Abandoned vehicles line an exit ramp along I-75 North during a winter storm in Atlanta, Georgia. Drivers and kids on school buses were stuck in their vehicles overnight as the wintery weather and accidents snarled roads and highways thoughout the region