Deadly cold snap shuts down central U.S. Texas is ground zero Andrew Freedman, Matthew Cappucci, Kim Bellware, Meryl Kornfield
Historic cold snap brings ice and snow to southern half of the U.S.
Replay Video UP NEXT A severe cold snap has turned the central and southern parts of the country into an extension of the Arctic, with dangerously low temperatures not seen in decades and a blast of snow and ice which has shut down population centers in multiple states. The excessive cold has sent energy demand skyrocketing. In Texas, 4.3 million customers were without electricity as of 8:45 p.m. Eastern, according to poweroutage.us, ahead of what was expected to be one of the state’s coldest nights on record, with most areas falling to the single digits or lower.