Situation in the South Grows More Dire following Historic Winter Storm

Mississippi dispatchers are fielding desperate calls for medication or oxygen from people stuck in their homes. Troopers in Tennessee are fanning out for welfare checks on those who haven’t been heard from in days. And in at least one rural area, officials have resorted to using trucks typically used for battling wildfires to transport patients to hospitals.

It could be days before power is restored across the South, where more subfreezing temperatures are expected by Friday in areas unaccustomed to and ill-equipped for such cold. The situation is reaching a breaking point for the elderly and those with medical conditions who lack electricity, some of whom are trapped by roads made impassable by ice and fallen trees.

The situation in northern Mississippi was "life-or-death," said Jamie Parttridge, a longtime resident of Batesville, along icy Interstate 55 in the hard-hit northern part of the state.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.