Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs After a rare winter storm that walloped the southern United States with record snowfall, the region was dealing with a dangerous new threat Thursday morning: ice on the roads that, in some parts, might not fully melt until the weekend.From the swamps of Louisiana to beaches in the Carolinas, the conditions left officials in much of the South delivering a similar message. The effects of the storm were not over, they told residents, and driving remained a hazard on untreated roads still frozen with slippery ice.While temperatures briefly rose above freezing in parts of Louisiana, southern Alabama and Mississippi, nighttime temperatures plummeted in areas including Georgia, northern Florida and coastal communities in the Carolinas, causing snow and ice to refreeze on roads. Morning commuters faced an increased risk of black ice, the slick patches that can form unpredictably and almost invisibly because they blend in with the asphalt.“Ice is ice, and it will present a hazard to motorists if they’re not prepared,” Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said.The threat is worse in a region that is unaccustomed to severely cold weather, and where snow plows are not regularly well stocked. Temperatures as low as 12 degrees Fahrenheit were possible on Thursday morning in parts of Southern Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Florida panhandle, according to the National Weather Service, which issued an extreme cold warning for the area through midmorning. The storm has already disrupted the region, with scores of schools canceling classes this week, airports delaying or canceling flights and travel becoming nearly impossible. Hundreds of flights were canceled through Thursday morning and several Southeastern airports paused operations. At New Orleans International Airport, all flights departing before noon on Thursday were canceled, although airlines were planning to resume operations in the afternoon. Charleston International Airport in South Carolina, which had closed down on Wednesday because of ice and snowy conditions, reopened on Thursday. Tallahassee International Airport in Florida and the regional and international airports in Mobile, Ala., were expected to restart operations on Thursday afternoon.Fueled by a whirling mass of Arctic air, the storm has also killed at least 10 people in Texas, Alabama and Georgia.And cities received record amounts of snow: Mobile reported 7.5 inches; Pensacola, Fla., received 7.6 inches, breaking its three-inch record from 1895; and New Orleans saw eight inches, more than Anchorage got this month.In Georgia, the State Patrol had responded to more than 3,000 calls, including 370 vehicle crashes, since Tuesday evening, the agency said in a statement. In North Carolina, where eastern coastal communities received as much as six inches of snow, the State Department of Transportation deployed more than 1,300 trucks to clean roads.“It is important to remember that below freezing temperatures will remain for the next few days. Any snowfall that does melt will refreeze each evening,” Will Ray, the director of the state’s emergency management office, said.Several officials and utility companies urged residents to help conserve power.“We are not out of woods yet,” Baldwin EMC, an electric utility in southern Alabama, said in a post on social media.In Mobile, a port city on Alabama’s coast, residents’ initial jubilee about the snow morphed into concern about travel, as many roads have been deemed impassable.“The snow has been beautiful and fun, but there could be a lot of problems hiding under all this snow and ice,” Eddie Tyler, the superintendent of the Baldwin County Public Schools system, wrote in a letter to parents after canceling school for the remainder of the week.In Tallahassee, Fla., police officers used pepper balls to disperse a rowdy snowball fight. In a statement, the Tallahassee Police Department confirmed its officers had arrived to the scene of the wintry chaos after people had complained of being hit in the head with snowballs. In a statement, the police confirmed officers had used the tactic after they, too, were hit in the face, and the crowd refused to stop. In Louisiana, the state’s transportation department said that parts of Interstate 10 would reopen Wednesday night between the Texas border and Lake Charles, but a major portion of the highway remained closed in both directions on Thursday morning.The Georgia State Patrol said that it had responded to more than 100 vehicle crashes. In DeKalb County, Ga., more than 100 vehicles were stranded on icy roadways and “obstructing emergency response efforts,” the authorities said.Progress to clear the roads, officials said, had been slow because of freezing temperatures. Even some fire trucks had become stuck.“This is a serious situation,” Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, the county’s chief executive, said. “We are asking for everyone’s patience and cooperation as our teams work around the clock to ensure public safety.”Ali Watkins and Ceylan Yeğinsu contributed reporting.
