At least four people are believed to have died as a result of the dangerous cold gripping much of the country, as a once-in-a-generation winter storm wreaks havoc on the Gulf Coast— a region wholly unaccustomed to winter weather. Officials in Austin, Texas, are investigating two deaths as suspected cold-related deaths, according to the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, or ATCEMS. While the medical examiner's office has not made a final determination of the causes of death, "they are currently suspected to be cold-related due to the circumstances," it said. Both people were found outside, ATCEMS said. CNN has reached out to the medical examiner for more information. Meantime, one person in Georgia died from hypothermia after being exposed to freezing temperatures, officials said at a news conference Tuesday. The individual was outside Monday night, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director James Stallings said. The fourth death is similarly being investigated as a "probable hypothermia death," involving an 80-year-old man in Milwaukee who fell outdoors early Sunday, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. While the cold has proved deadly, the reported deaths come as footage from across the Gulf Coast shows snow blanketing implausible places, causing surreal wintry scenes: in New Orleans' French Quarter, where street performers sang for passersby; on the grass at the Florida border; and on the white sand beaches of Orange Beach, Alabama. "I've never seen anything like this," Brennan Matherne wrote on X, where he shared footage of snow falling in Cut Off, Louisiana, "and probably never will again." Brutally cold temperatures are allowing an incredibly unusual storm to unfold along the Gulf Coast. Snow, and an icy mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain, expanded in the early hours of Tuesday and ramped up throughout the morning. The sweeping system is "a generational winter storm event," the National Weather Service said Monday — and urged those along its path to take it seriously. Roads overnight and Tuesday will be "extremely hazardous if not impossible for much of the area, and travel is highly discouraged," the service said. Hundreds of flights in the region already have been canceled. And schools are closed in states including Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina. The complex mess of wintry weather spread east to reach more of Mississippi and into Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and the western Florida Panhandle throughout the day. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp warned people in the state to stay off roads because the sudden onset of snow later in the day, in places like Atlanta, could catch people off guard. Indeed, there were impacts to the roadways by early evening, particularly south of Interstate 20, according to Georgia Department of Transportation spokesperson Natalie Dale. "Plow crews are having trouble treating some areas due to non-incident related congestion," she said, encouraging motorists to avoid travel. "This could deteriorate very quickly like it did in 2014," Gov. Kemp said. A few inches of snow that year paralyzed Atlanta with countless traffic incidents that trapped drivers in what became known as "Snowmageddon." Tuesday's snowfall could break records set decades ago and possibly rival records from the late 1800s. Snow even covered sandy beaches along Texas' coast Tuesday morning. The rare winter storm comes as 33 million people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina under winter weather alerts, with more than 200 million people in the US affected by bitterly cold air more broadly. The Upper Midwest and Northern Plains recorded wind chills to 50 degrees below zero Monday and were experiencing 40 degrees below zero Tuesday morning — temperatures that can cause frostbite on exposed skin in a matter of minutes. Officials in affected states in the South cautioned people to stay off the roads, keep faucets dripping to prevent pipes from freezing, check batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and refrain from using cooking stoves to heat homes. Governors in Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi have declared states of emergency, while Texas authorities have directed state agencies to mobilize resources for the rare snowfall. In North Carolina, officials have deployed parts of the state National Guard to the eastern reaches of the state to support local emergency services. "Most of us haven't experienced this combination of bitter cold and significant snow ever in our lifetime," Louisiana climatologist Jay Grymes said Monday. Travel was paralyzed along the Interstate 10 corridor with portions already receiving widespread snowfall totals of 3 to 6 inches. More than half a foot of snow had fallen by Tuesday afternoon along a portion of I-10 in southwestern Louisiana. One location just north of Rayne, Louisiana, recorded 10.5 inches of snow before noon. Cold weather will lock any snow and ice that falls into place, keeping roads hazardous. By late Tuesday afternoon, the Louisiana State Patrol had responded to more than 50 weather-related calls for service and numerous crashes across the state. Similar warnings were echoed in neighboring Florida. "Our infrastructure is designed differently than states that are used to this (winter weather)," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned in a Tuesday news conference. "The state has done a lot to prepare but ... driving in icy conditions, it can be very, very hazardous." Disruptions were also reported in the skies, with more than a dozen airports in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia closed to commercial flights as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. There were more than 2,100 flight cancellations within, into or out of the US Tuesday morning, with most of those flights coming from Texas and Louisiana, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Nearly all flights to or from New Orleans International Airport were canceled by 10 a.m. CST. Louisiana's Lafayette Regional Airport was closed Tuesday due to ice and snow on runways, the airport said. Mississippi's Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport also closed its terminal and runway "until weather permits a safe reopening." The Mobile Regional Airport in Alabama closed around 9:15 a.m. CT, spokesperson Devon Calametti told CNN, with plans to reopen at noon Wednesday. In Florida, Tallahassee International Airport said it would suspend all operations at 4 p.m. CT with plans to reopen Wednesday at noon. And Jacksonville International Airport will close after its last departing flight Tuesday evening, around 8 p.m. Again, the airport plans to reopen at noon Wednesday. Houston's two major airports, George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, are also closed Tuesday, while Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest, is pretreating roadways and airfield surfaces in preparation for the winter weather, according to spokesperson Andrew Gobeil. Schools across the Deep South were closed or moved online Tuesday from Texas to Florida. In Georgia, Gwinnett County Public Schools, the state's largest school district, has moved all its classes online. The Houston Independent School District, the largest in the Lone Star state and the eighth largest in the country, will also be closed until Wednesday. But while the weather spelled trouble and headaches for many, others were basking in the novelty. "This is the real deal, as we call it. The fluffy snow," Benny Fontenot, a 51-year-old school principal in Rayne, Louisiana, outside Lafayette, told CNN. He shared footage of himself sitting outside in the snow wearing a traditional Cajun Mardi Gras costume while playing the accordion. "For me, it's a blessing," he said. "I mean, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that God blessed us with." — CNN
