NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Much of the United States was still hit by deadly Arctic weather on Sunday, with sub-freezing conditions reaching as far south as Texas and Florida. But the numbing cold is expected to subside in the coming days.
Crews in Memphis, Tennessee, continued working around the clock on Sunday to find and repair burst pipes that were causing low water pressure throughout the system. Some residents have been without running water for days and the utility’s 400,000 customers remained under a boil water notice.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water President and CEO Doug McGowen said in a video posted to social media Saturday night that he expects to have an estimate of when pressure will be restored by Sunday afternoon.
“Hang in there,” McGowen said. “Neighbors help neighbors.”
As of Saturday afternoon, the utility had repaired 36 broken water pipes and more than 2,000 leaks in homes and businesses. As temperatures began to rise above freezing on Sunday, more leaks were expected to appear. McGowen asked residents to stop dripping faucets once things warmed up, a move that would add 5 to 10 million gallons per day to the system and help restore water pressure.
Rhodes College in Memphis began sending residential students home Saturday and moving those who couldn’t return home to hotels. The school was planning virtual classes on Mondays and Tuesdays.
“We ask that you NOT come to campus on any day due to the current water situation and the dangers it creates,” the school’s announcement said.
Memphis was the largest, but not the only, water system in Tennessee to experience problems due to the unusually cold weather. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said Saturday night that 28 water systems have issued boil water notices.
The continued cold weather is also responsible for at least 25 deaths in Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. Nationally, this month’s winter storms have claimed at least 67 lives in the United States, many of them from hypothermia or traffic accidents.
Elsewhere, freezing rain, sleet and strong wind gusts on Sunday would make travel in parts of Kansas and Oklahoma particularly dangerous, the National Weather Service said. Wind chills in Iowa made it feel like -20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 degrees Celsius) in some parts.
But the end of the freezing temperatures, which hit the United States on Friday, was in sight in some parts of the country. For example, daily high temperatures in Des Moines, Iowa’s capital, were expected to remain above freezing starting Monday.
“Without additional replenishment of Arctic air from Canada, continued warming is expected for the midsection of the country,” the weather service said.
In Western New York, Buffalo Bills fans were preparing for another home playoff game Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, with temperatures forecast to be around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 7 degrees Celsius), winds around 10 mph (16 kph) and a slight chance of snow showers. On Friday and Saturday, hundreds of people showed up at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park to help shovel snow from the stands for the second week in a row, earning $20 an hour.
Nearly 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow fell in the area over the past week. Fans also helped clear snow from the stadium before Monday’s 31-17 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in frigid temperatures.
The Erie County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday urged fans not to throw snowballs at the stadium or trespass on the new stadium construction site.
On the West Coast, more freezing rain was forecast in the Columbia River Gorge and the area was expected to remain near or below freezing until at least Sunday night. Trees and power lines already covered in ice could fall if more accumulates, the National Weather Service warned.
“Stay safe over the next few days as our region attempts to thaw,” the weather service said. “Falling ice chunks will also continue to be a hazard.”
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Associated Press writers David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, and Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, contributed to this report.