Winter mess

Associated Press

ATLANTA

A winter storm stalking the South disrupted a new governor’s inaugural ceremonies in North Carolina, triggered hundreds of fender benders in Tennessee and led shoppers to empty out shelves of bread and milk.

Road workers manning 12-hour shifts rushed to pre-treat roads as states of emergency were declared in Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas as the storm closed in amid threats of snow, sleet, freezing rain and gusting winds.

Winter storm warnings were issued for parts of Alabama and Georgia, including Atlanta, and into the Carolinas and part of Virginia. Schools canceled classes in several states.

Officials warned that their Southern cities, with far fewer snowplows than up north, could grind to a halt with even a thin coat of ice or snow.

The winter mess was blamed for hundreds of fender benders and other noninjury crashes, some involving school buses, on Nashville roads coated by 1 to 2 inches of snow early Friday.

Nashville’s city school district ordered classes to start as scheduled but had to hastily call early dismissals as police reports of noninjury crashes multiplied. All students were later transported safely home.

In North Carolina, the storm threat sent incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and his invitees scrambling to the Executive Mansion ballroom for an abridged swearing-in ceremony Friday. A larger outdoor ceremony Saturday organized for thousands had to be scrapped.

In Atlanta, where memories of a catastrophic snow and ice storm in 2014 are still fresh, city leaders pleaded with motorists not to venture out onto slick highways.

At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport, Delta Air Lines on Friday announced that 350 flights had been canceled ahead of the storm.

A mix of rain and sleet was expected across parts of Georgia on Friday. Two to 4 inches of snow could cover much of the state by this morning, forecasters said.

Snow-removal trucks and dozens of road workers from south Georgia were moved north to help clear roads.

Freezing rain was expected in Alabama, the National Weather Service said.

Shoppers were out in force seeking staples like milk, bread and eggs.

By the time Justin Fetty, 31, of Hampton, Va., made it to a Food Lion, every brand of bread that he was familiar with was gone. “You had to buy like weird stuff,” he said, at a loss describe exactly what kind of bread he purchased. “But my daughter needs her PB&Js. You can’t make them with tortillas.”