BELZONI, Miss. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people entered their sixth day with no electricity Friday as the Carolinas and Virginia were preparing for a significant winter storm that could bring more snowfall than some parts of North Carolina have seen in years.
The National Weather Service said arctic air moving into the Southeast will cause already frigid temperatures to plummet into the teens (minus 10 degrees Celsius) on Friday night in cities like Nashville, Tennessee, where many people still lacked power nearly a week after a massive storm dumped snow and ice across the eastern U.S.
More than 230,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Friday morning, with the vast majority of those outages in Mississippi and Tennessee, according to the outage tracking website poweroutage.us.
Forecasters say the subfreezing weather will persist in the eastern U.S. into February and there’s high chance of heavy snow in the Carolinas, Virginia and northeast Georgia this weekend, possibly up to a foot (30 centimeters) in parts of North Carolina. Snow is also possible along the East Coast from Maryland to Maine.
On Saturday night and early Sunday, forecasters expect intense winds accompanied by moderate to heavy snow that could lead to blizzard conditions for a time before the storm starts to move out to sea Sunday morning.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a beach city more accustomed to hurricanes, traffic jams and tourists, the National Weather Service has predicted 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow.
The city has no snow removal equipment. Instead, newly-inaugurated Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark Kruea said they will “use what we can find” — maybe a motor grader or bulldozer to scrape snow off streets.
“With a hurricane you can storm proof many things," Kruea said Friday. "But at a place like this, there is only a few things you can do to get ready for snow."
With the wave of dangerous cold heading for the U.S. South on Friday, experts say the risk of hypothermia heightens for people in parts of Mississippi and Tennessee who are entering their sixth day trapped at home without power in subfreezing temperatures.
“The longer you’re exposed to the cold, the worse it is,” said Dr. Hans House, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Iowa. “The body can handle cold temperatures briefly very well, but the prolonged exposure is a problem.”
People who are more vulnerable — the elderly, infants and those with underlying health conditions — may have started experiencing hypothermia symptoms within hours of being exposed to the frigid temperatures, explained Dr. Zheng Ben Ma, medical director of the University of Washington Medical Center’s northwest emergency department. That includes everything from exhaustion to slurred speech and memory loss.
But almost a week in and the situation is nearing a turning point, he explained: Younger people who are generally healthy could potentially begin to fall victim to these symptoms as well.
“Once you get into days six, seven, upwards of 10, then even a healthy, resilient person will be more predisposed to experiencing some of those deleterious effects of the cold temperature,” he said.
Mississippi officials say it’s the state’s worst winter storm since 1994. About 80 warming centers were opened across the state, known as one of the nation’s poorest. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said National Guard troops were delivering meals, blankets and other supplies by truck and helicopter.
In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee said crews had distributed more than 600 units of warming supplies and more than 2,200 gallons (8,328 liters) of gas and diesel.
Nashville residents in more than 70,000 powerless homes and businesses were bracing for a frigid weekend forecast, as criticisms grew louder of the local utility's handling of the prep and recovery. Nashville Electric Service has defended its approach, saying it was an unprecedented storm. At the peak, about half of its customers in and near the capital city lost power.
More than 80 people have died in areas affected by bitter cold from Texas to New Jersey. Roughly half the deaths were reported in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. While some deaths have been attributed to hypothermia, others are suspected to be related to carbon monoxide exposure.
Dr. Abhi Mehrotra, an emergency medicine physician with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said it's important to make sure heat sources used indoors, including generators, are not emitting carbon monoxide, which could be deadly.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia, and Thanawala from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Jonathan Mattise and Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; Sarah Brumfield in Washington; Devi Shastri in Milwaukee and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
Sherry Miller, who is staying at the Humphreys County warming center, passes the time playing dominoes with others seeking shelter in Belzoni, Miss., on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
Jean Christophe rides his bike home from Kroger on snow and ice in Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian via AP)
Jimmy Jordan, left, and Cordarol Dale walk through snow in Memphis, Tenn., Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian via AP)
PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama's president moved to assure the public on Friday that critical ports at both ends of the Panama Canal will continue to operate without interruption — a day after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the concession held by a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings was unconstitutional.
The court's decision late Thursday advances a U.S. aim to block any influence by China over the strategic waterway and immediately drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said that until the court's ruling is executed — a period of time he did not specify — Panama's Maritime Authority would work with Panama Ports Company, the CK Hutchison subsidiary, to ensure continuing operations at the port.
Once the concession is formally ended, a local subsidiary of Danish logistics company A.P. Moller-Maersk will operate the ports in a transitional phase until a new concession can be bid and awarded, Mulino said.
“Panama moves forward, its ports will continue operating without interruption and we will continue serving the world at the logistics center of excellence that we are,” Mulino said in a recorded video address.
The court’s ruling followed an audit by Panama’s comptroller, which alleged irregularities in the 25-year extension of the concession, granted in 2021.
The Trump administration made blocking China’s influence over the Panama Canal one of its priorities in the hemisphere. Panama was U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first overseas stop as the United States’ top diplomat. On Friday, Rubio said on X that “the United States is encouraged by the recent Panamanian Supreme Court’s decision to rule port concessions to China unconstitutional.”
Despite the insistence by Panama’s government and the canal authority that China has no influence over its operations, Rubio made clear that the U.S. viewed the operation of the ports as a national security issue. U.S. President Donald Trump had gone so far as to say Panama should return the canal to U.S. control.
The court’s brief statement gave no guidance on what would happen to the ports now.
CK Hutchison’s subsidiary, Panama Ports Company, said it has not been notified yet about the decision but insisted its concession was the result of transparent international bidding.
It said in its statement that the ruling “lacks legal basis and jeopardizes not only PPC and its contract, but also the well-being and stability of thousands of Panamanian families who depend directly and indirectly on port activity, but also the rule of law and legal certainty in the country.”
It said that it reserves all rights to proceed legally in Panama or elsewhere, but gave no more details.
The Hong Kong government firmly rejected the ruling in a statement, saying it strongly opposes any foreign government using coercive, repressive or other unreasonable means to seriously harm the business interests of Hong Kong enterprises. It said the Panamanian government should respect the spirit of contracts and provide a fair business environment.
“Given the current situation in Panama, Hong Kong enterprises should carefully review their existing and future investments there," it said.
In Beijing, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, told reporters that China would take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of “the Chinese company,” without elaborating on the potential steps.
Political analyst Edwin Cabrera said once the parties are notified, the issue of what to do with the ports goes to Panama’s executive branch, specifically the Panama Maritime Authority.
“I have the impression from conversations that I have had with some people that the operation (of the ports) will not stop,” Cabrera said.
CK Hutchison Holdings announced a deal last year to sell its majority stake in the Panamanian ports and others around the world to an international consortium that included BlackRock Inc. But the deal appeared to stall over objections by the Chinese government.
The company said last July that it was considering seeking a Chinese investor to join as a significant member of the consortium, a move that some interpreted as way to please Beijing, but CK Hutchison hasn't said more since.
The awkward position the company found itself in highlights the challenges Hong Kong business elites face in navigating Beijing’s expectations of national loyalty, especially when relations between China and the United States are strained. CK Hutchison is owned by the family of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing.
Last year, Panama’s comptroller audited the concession to the Panama Ports Company, which had held the contract to operate the ports since 1997. The concession was renewed in 2021 for 25 years, during the prior Panamanian administration.
Comptroller Anel Flores said the audit found payments that were not made, accounting errors and the apparent existence of “ghost” concessions operating within the ports since 2015. The company denied those allegations.
The audit determined that the irregularities had cost the government about $300 million since the concession was extended and an estimated $1.2 billion during the original 25-year contract.
Flores also said the extension was granted without the required endorsement of his office.
On July 30, the comptroller challenged the Panama Ports Company’s contract to operate the ports before the Supreme Court.
Associated Press writer Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
FILE -Cranes load a cargo ship at the Panama Canal's Port of Balboa, managed by CK Hutchison Holdings, in Panama City, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - Ship containers are stacked at the Panama Canal Balboa port, operated by the Panama Ports Company, in Panama City, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE -A cargo ship sails past the Panama Canal's Port of Balboa, managed by CK Hutchison Holdings, in Panama City, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
FILE - Workers carry out maintenance at the Pedro Miguel locks of the Panama Canal during routine upkeep in Panama City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
