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.