Cold Tightens Its Grip on the East; Fuel Shortages Peril Some Areas

Frigid weather chilled the Eastern half of the nation Saturday, overwhelming homeless shelters, slickening roads with snow and keeping utilities and fuel companies scrambling to meet the demand.

The continuing cold and accompanying snowstorms have been blamed for at least 80 deaths in 17 states and the nation’s capital.

The Energy Department reported that the weekend cold snap has stretched the nation’s energy system to the maximum and created “spot shortages” of heating fuels along the East Coast.

In Texas, three utilities had to institute “rolling blackouts” because they couldn’t keep up with demand for power, with Houston most seriously affected with 150,000 without service.

Other utilities asked customers to conserve power and shut off service to some commercial clients, and heating oil and propane were high-priced and in short supply in some areas. Power was also in short supply in Virginia and Florida.

The harsh weather also forced homeless people into shelters in major cities, sending many into transportation terminals and bank automatic teller machine lobbies to seek warmth.

In the lobby of a Manhattan bank, young homeless men wrapped in ragged blankets slept on a floor littered with garbage to escape temperatures that hovered around 6 degrees. City officials said 9,197 people were housed overnight in municipal shelters.

In all, 30 cities from Texas to Alabama established new record lows for December.

The Red Cross in Miami prepared to open three of its hurricane shelters to provide a warm haven for the region’s homeless, and city officials planned to open Bobby Maduro Miami baseball stadium, in a move that could provide shelter for hundreds of stranded people.

The airports in Jacksonville and Gainesville closed Saturday because of ice-covered runways and several flights in and out of Tallahassee were canceled.

Record low temperatures gripped parts of Tennessee as the mercury dropped to 8 degrees below zero in Nashville, smashing a 117-year-old record of 10 below.

The morning low of 11 degrees at New Orleans was the lowest temperature ever recorded there, as was a low of 2 degrees below zero at San Angelo, Tex.

Along with the hopes for a snowy Christmas in Georgia came a rash of traffic accidents on snow-slickened and ice-covered roads and warnings to motorists from state transportation officials who urged people to stay at home.