A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A 2,000-mile stretch of the U.S. is expected to get covered with snow and ice this weekend. Forecasts show snow, sleet and freezing rain starting later today in Texas, New Mexico and Kansas. The storm will move through the Carolinas, then up the Northeast. And in the Southeast, Blue Ridge Public Radio's Laura Hackett reports that ice and widespread power outages are the biggest concern.
LAURA HACKETT, BYLINE: At a staging center in Asheville, North Carolina, transportation workers are mixing brine and preparing large piles of salt and sand with a shovel truck. Paul Roberts, a transportation engineer, says the state has already put down hundreds of thousands of gallons of brine on roads throughout the state.
PAUL ROBERTS: So as my time as a county maintenance engineer, this is the largest storm that the weather forecasts are predicting. We hope for the best and not for the worse.
HACKETT: The National Weather Service says this storm has the potential to be one of the worst ice storms the region has seen in over two decades. Extended and widespread power outages are possible, and travel will be dangerous. Duke Energy is one of the largest utilities in the Southeast. Spokesperson Jeffrey Brooks says it takes only a small amount of ice to cause a problem.
JEFFREY BROOKS: It takes about 6 to 8 inches of snow before you begin to see tree limbs coming down off of trees, and that can impact power lines, whereas it only takes about a quarter of an inch of ice to have the same effects.
HACKETT: In Asheville, an area still reeling from Hurricane Helene, residents have been running around, searching for propane gas, camp stoves and bottled water. Many shelves are empty of items like soup, milk and bread.
VESNA ALBANO: I would say people have been stressed out.
HACKETT: Vesna Albano (ph) is a cashier at Ace Hardware. She says emotions have been running high, and the store is already out of propane.
ALBANO: There have been some people that have almost been reduced to tears because they're worried that they're not going to be able to get the supplies they need. And I think a lot of that is probably residual panic after what happened with Helene last year.
HACKETT: But for every person panicking, there also seems to be someone else thinking about how to help. That includes Preston Maroney (ph), who is picking up supplies at Harris Teeter for others who can't.
PRESTON MARONEY: I got everything I need. I got a few minutes, and I'm picking up things for a couple of different houses. I've got couple loaves of bread, couple of cans. And we'll make a big pot of chili for them.
HACKETT: And a pot of chili might not be a bad idea as the storm could linger for a few days, with freezing temperatures expected through early next week.
For NPR News, I'm Laura Hackett in Asheville, North Carolina.
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