Storm deaths were reported in the Northeast, the South and the Plains.
A deadly winter storm that brought massive snowfall across the U.S. knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people in the South and crippled travel in the Northeast.
At least 20 states have declared a state of emergency as the storm nears: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Washington, D.C., has also declared a state of emergency.
Hundreds of National Guard troops from 12 states — with eight states on alert — have been activated for Winter Storm Fern, according to National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Steven Nordhaus.
He said the Guardsmen were "working tirelessly alongside interagency partners to clear roads, help stranded motorists and support communities in need" in a post on X.
In South Carolina, 220 Guardsmen have been called up for the response — in addition to 168 troops in Arkansas, about 100 in Maryland, roughly 180 in Missouri, and about 50 in Oklahoma.
-ABC News’ Christopher Boccia
Roughly 2% of power customers (45,325) across Louisiana are without service, according to Power Outage.US.
Impacts are concentrated in the northern part of the state with DeSoto (51%) and Ouachita (31%) counties affected more than others.
-ABC News’ Michael O’Keefe
Over 57,000 customers are without power Saturday afternoon in Texas amid the winter storm, according to Power Outage.US.
