Winter Storm Mara's Deadly Ice Storm Causes Pileups,Travel Terrors in Southern Plains

On Tuesday, Winter Storm Mara coated interstates in ice and caused numerous traffic accidents across several states.

The weather has been blamed for at least three deaths in Texas.

According to the state Department of Public Safety, the latest victim was a woman who died due to an icy road in Eldorado, Texas, as per The Weather Channel.

A man also died after his car flew off a slick overpass in Arlington on Monday night, and another was killed in a 10-car pileup in Austin on Tuesday morning.

According to Marc Williams, director of the Texas Department of Transportation, the current weather has made driving conditions extremely dangerous throughout the state.

Several locations, including Dallas metroplex and more rural areas, have experienced crashes, according to Williams.

An injured state trooper who was looking into a crash was taken to the hospital.

Conditions are anticipated to get worse.

Since midnight, Austin police had already helped with more than 90 traffic crashes, three of which implicated their own units.

Near Jeanette, Arkansas, there is a 15-mile-long line of backed-up vehicles on Interstate 40, and motorists are being urged to avoid the area.

Among Forrest City, Arkansas, and Memphis, the Arkansas Department of Transportation advised motorists to avoid using I-40 westbound.

According to WREG-TV, 12 cars collided with one another on an icy Memphis street this morning.

The incident took place on Third Street, which is close to Interstate 55.

The station was informed by a driver that the road was very icy and that vehicles were swerving all over the place.

People receive weather alert for ice storm

The majority of the storm hit Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon, but also more than 30 million people from New Mexico to West Virginia are receiving some kind of winter weather alert through Wednesday, as per CNN.

Particularly, on Tuesday evening, an ice storm warning, which indicated that ice accumulations of much more than a quarter inch were anticipated, covered parts of northern Texas, much of Arkansas, northwest Mississippi, and western Tennessee.

Several school districts in western Tennessee and northwest Mississippi announced they would be closed on Wednesday.

Memphis Shelby County Schools added that all before- and after-school activities had been canceled.

The Parkland Health system in Dallas made the announcement that all clinics would be closed through Wednesday due to the deteriorating weather.

Forecasters predict up to half an inch of ice accumulation in parts of Arkansas, foreshadowing travel delays and power outages.

The ice storm warning was extended through Thursday at noon, according to the Little Rock weather service, and more freezing rain is expected Wednesday.

Anticipation of Ice storm

What to anticipate from Tuesday night into Wednesday. Tuesday evening, there will be significant freezing rain in some areas of Arkansas, western and central Tennessee, and northwest Mississippi.

By early Wednesday morning, it is anticipated that it will be less severe.

The worst of this storm is anticipated to hit early on Wednesday morning, according to forecasters in Austin and the San Antonio region.

Most areas in the region are predicted to experience temperatures that are near or below freezing.

By Thursday, it is anticipated that the effects of the winter storm will have subsided and temperatures will start to rise.