Houston chills under extreme cold after historic winter storm

AccuWeather

AccuWeather Correspondent Leslie Hudson reports from Houston, Texas, where dangerous, icy conditions and slippery roads and highways led to multiple accidents on Jan. 22.

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00:00Our preliminary estimate of economic losses and business disruptions from this once-in-a-generation

00:06storm is between $14 and $17 billion.

00:11Right now, this number accounts for major travel delays and disruptions, including hundreds

00:16of flight cancellations and delays across the United States.

00:19And there are still airports that are closed this morning.

00:23And our coverage continues with AccuWeather correspondent Leslie Hudson.

00:29She joins us live from Houston, where a lot of people were out and about yesterday.

00:34Leslie, can you give us an update on today?

00:39Yeah, there is definitely a chill in the air, to pardon a pun.

00:47Folks were enjoying all of that beautiful fresh powder, which, by the way, officially

00:51was about three inches at the Houston airport.

00:54But in Maytown, just outside the city, they got over five inches of snow.

01:00So there was several of that white powder.

01:02And as you look here, of course, the sun is up.

01:04The thing is, is that they're going to be dealing with this slushy mess down here.

01:07So you can see that this looks like it's pretty benign.

01:10But look at that.

01:11It is iced over.

01:12And the problem is, is that since early this morning, I was out here at 5 a.m., they were

01:17trying to get the cars.

01:18There's a lot more foot traffic.

01:19There's more cars on the road.

01:21And there are definitely a lot more crashes being reported here in the Houston area, the

01:26fourth largest city in the country.

01:27A lot of commerce here.

01:28A lot of folks have to travel on the interstates.

01:31But they are iced over.

01:32And as you look down the road here, you can see, again, some of the icy conditions that

01:36are around these roads.

01:37Again, this would not be a typical scenario in downtown Houston, where you'd be able to

01:40walk on this kind of road this time of the day.

01:43But this is what we're looking out for, this really slippery stuff.

01:46And it'll be along these roadways.

01:48Now, we'd heard that they had DOT cameras, or DOT trucks, rather, that came in from Wisconsin

01:54to help get some of these roads passable.

01:57But again, that's still going to be a problem.

01:59I shot some video from early this morning.

02:01And as folks get out the door and try and get to work or wherever they're trying to

02:04go this morning, it's deceiving, because it looks like it's just benign slush.

02:09But it's not.

02:10It's iced over, because we're right now right around 20 degrees Fahrenheit temperature in

02:15downtown Houston.

02:16The wind chill is in the teens, really cold stuff.

02:19So the snow that was left from yesterday has iced over.

02:22And folks are probably not anticipating that what looks like slush is actually thick ice.

02:27So I would imagine we're going to hear a lot of problems today, once that commute starts

02:32to go through with people trying to get out and about in these icy conditions.

02:36It is expected to warm to above freezing today, but of course that will take several more

02:40hours because we're sitting right at 20 degrees here.

02:44And I imagine it is going to be a nightmare as folks try and still move.

02:48They're telling you, if you don't have to get on these roads to still stay home.

02:52The airports are opening this morning.

02:54Inbound planes open up at 9 a.m. local time, and outbound planes open up at both airports

03:01at around 10 a.m. local time.

03:04So it'll no doubt be a headache.

03:06They had 1,100 flights canceled here in Houston yesterday.

03:09All those folks have to shuttle out today, including Erin and I.

03:12So I wish us well on that.

03:13But for sure, still very icy weather here across the Houston area and very cold.

03:19Reporting in downtown Houston, I'm Leslie Hudson.

03:21Back to you.

03:22I've got to ask you a quick question, Leslie.

03:25You mentioned a nightmare.

03:26Yeah, because you're a Florida girl in Houston.

03:31Did you ever think you'd experience anything like this?

03:37Yeah, you know, I listened to Erin, who's a seasoned storm chaser, and to hear him tell

03:44the kind of shock and awe he had, imagine somebody like me who does not see this every

03:50day.

03:51You know, I only see this kind of stuff when we go on vacation.

03:54And it was surreal to see the snow in downtown Houston, you know, a Gulf Coast, warm, temperate

04:01climate just like where I live in Florida.

04:03To see the video out of New Orleans at Cafe Du Monde was mind-blowing.

04:08You know, it was shut down, looked like it was a blizzard in Canada.

04:11And then, of course, my own home state, Pensacola, I think got nine inches of snow.

04:15Just unbelievable to see this winter blast across the Gulf Coast.

04:19It was definitely and still is surreal.

04:21I cannot believe I'm in Houston, Texas, and there is ice on these roads.

04:25And the snow that we saw yesterday, it was unbelievable.

04:28Well, Floridians who go on vacation to see the snow and people who go to Florida and

04:33not see it, well, they're getting it.

04:35Thank you so much.

04:36AccuWeather correspondent Leslie Hudson, thank you for joining us.

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