- - More Than 60 Deaths From Winter Storm Fern; 290,000 Still Without Power Ahead Of Weekend Storm

Renee StrakerJanuary 29, 2026 at 2:22 AM

7

More than 290,000 customers remain without power this morning as the death toll from Winter Storm Fern rises. At least 62 deaths in 13 states are now blamed on the snow, ice, freezing rain and dangerously cold temperatures. Kentucky and Mississippi have recorded 10 deaths each.

Tennessee and Mississippi have the highest number of power outages, with more than 100,000 homes and businesses without power in each state, according to the latest numbers from PowerOutage.us.

That's raising concerns about warmth and safety as subfreezing temperatures will hit the East Coast this weekend and plunge as far South as Florida.

(FORECAST: Another Arctic Blast Will Dive Into The South And East)

Young Boys Drown In Texas

Three boys in Texas died Monday after falling through the ice on a pond just outside of Bonham, north of Dallas, said the Fannin County Sheriff's Office.

The brothers were 6, 8 and 9 years old. In a statement, the sheriff's office said first responders and a neighbor were able to pull the 8 and 9-year-olds from the water. They were rushed to the hospital but did not survive.

The 6-year-old's body was later found during an extensive search. The sheriff's office did not release their names, but their mother, Cheyenne Hangaman, spoke to local reporters and identified them as Howard, 6, Kaleb, 8, and EJ, who was 9.

Hangaman told KCBD that she tried to save them.

"I started running toward the pond and I jumped in. I tried to save them while also trying to keep myself alive,” she said. “As soon as I jumped in, I locked up. I couldn’t do anything.”

Bitter Cold Persists

Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes and go to warming shelters as temperatures in the teens persist. Lisa Patterson planned to stick it out at her family's home in Nashville.

Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

But after she and her husband lost power, trees fell onto their driveway and their wood stove proved no match for the frigid temperatures, the couple and their dog had to be rescued.

She told the : "I’ve been snowed in up there for almost three weeks without being able to get up and down my driveway because of the snow. I’m prepared for that. But this was unprecedented."

(MORE: Ice Covers Entire Tennessee Neighborhood)

In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday that at least 14 homes and 20 public roads had major damage in the aftermath of the state’s worst ice storm since 1994.

The University of Mississippi canceled classes for the entire week as its Oxford campus remained coated in treacherous ice.

In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear warned that the temperatures could be so frigid this week that as little as 10 minutes outside “could result in frostbite or hypothermia.”

Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images

(MORE: Fern Recap - How Much Snow And Ice Fell)

New Storm This Weekend

And now the East Coast is facing another arctic blast this weekend, bringing the coldest air of the season from the mid-Atlantic, through the South and all the way into the Florida Keys, says Weather.com senior meteorologist Jonathan Erdman.

This latest storm has been named Winter Storm Gianna by The Weather Channel.

Forecast models so far show the potential for some significant snow from parts of the Carolinas and Virginia to southeast New England.

You’ll want to keep checking back in with us as this forecast develops throughout the week. Here’s a detailed look at what’s ahead.

The contributed to this report.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Breaking”