Crippling winter storm slams U.S., bringing deadly cold and leaving over 1M without power

A sprawling and unusually powerful winter storm has battered vast portions of the United States, coating roads in dangerous ice, burying cities under heavy snow, and plunging temperatures to life-threatening lows. The system has knocked out electricity for more than one million customers across the mid-Atlantic, South, and Midwest, while disrupting travel nationwide and forcing widespread closures. The storm has also proven deadly, with at least seven people dead nationwide in connection with the extreme cold, including two men in Louisiana whose deaths were attributed to hypothermia. Officials fear the toll could rise as freezing temperatures persist and many