Vincent Sottile, center, and his brother Mike Sottile play hockey on the public tennis courts at Forsyth Park, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Seeing her first winter weather, 9-month-old Roxie, eats snow off the ground of the public basketball courts at Forsyth Park, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Valerie Hinkle collects kindling along the edge of the partially frozen Hudson River in Beacon, N.Y., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Hinkle was concerned that in incoming storm might knock out the power and she wanted to able to build a fire. Bitterly cold temperatures gripped much of the nation on Tuesday, testing the mettle of even winter-wise northerners and delivering a shock to those accustomed to far milder weather in the South. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A pedestrian walks past a frozen fountain downtown in Atlanta, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy north Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday, adding to the misery of a bitter cold snap. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency through Friday for 28 counties because of the frigid weather. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Two Savannah Chatham Metro Police officers set up a barricade in front of a bridge that was closed due to ice on the road, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Crews work to repair downed utility lines along highway 301 near Hilliard, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, just south of the Georgia state line, after an ice coated tree branch fell, taking the ice covered lines down with it. A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
Icicles hang from the « Welcome to Hilliard sign » in Hilliard, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
A wind power facility lies on a field after it collapsed during storm ‘Burglind’ in Volksdorf near Hannover, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 3 2018. After parts of the rotor had broken, the tower of the roughly 70 meter tall wind wheel collapsed. Nobody was injured in the accident. (Holger Hollemann/dpa via AP)
A ship with ice in the rigging moves through Boston Harbor, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Boston. After a week of frigid temperatures, a major winter storm is predicted for the region on Thursday. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Sea ice floats in Boston Harbor, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Boston. After a week of frigid temperatures, a major winter storm is predicted for the region on Thursday. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Ice covers large portions of the Hudson River near Beacon, N.Y., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Bitterly cold temperatures gripped much of the nation on Tuesday, testing the mettle of even winter-wise northerners and delivering a shock to those accustomed to far milder weather in the South. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
An ice formation is seen along the edge of the Hudson River in Beacon, N.Y., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Bitterly cold temperatures gripped much of the nation on Tuesday, testing the mettle of even winter-wise northerners and delivering a shock to those accustomed to far milder weather in the South. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Children from the Hoffman and Lynns families build a snowman on the public basketball courts in Forsyth Park, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Savannah, Ga. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency through Friday for at least 28 counties because of the frigid weather. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)
Road salt is loaded into a truck surrounded by mountains of salt at Eastern Minerals Inc., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in the Boston suburb of Chelsea, Mass. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for Thursday that extends from Block Island, R.I., north to coastal Maine. Most of the rest of southern New England is under a winter storm watch. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)
Chunks of ice forms along the shore of the Raritan Bay in the northern part of the New Jersey Shore, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Keansburg, N.J. The New Jersey Shore, which has been experiencing deep cold weather, is gearing up for a winter storm that forecasters say will bring several inches of snow on Thursday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Chunks of ice forms along the shore of the Raritan Bay near the pier at Jersey Shore Beach and Boardwalk, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Keansburg, N.J. The New Jersey Shore, which has been experiencing deep cold weather, is gearing up for a winter storm that forecasters say will bring several inches of snow on Thursday. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Ice forms on a breakwall along Lake Erie with the city of Cleveland in the background, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Cleveland. Dangerously cold temperatures have gripped wide swaths of the U.S. from Texas to New England. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Michele King, 26, looks out over frozen Lake Erie, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Cleveland. Dangerously cold temperatures have gripped wide swaths of the U.S. from Texas to New England. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Icicles hang from a tree and on plants on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018 at Calo Farms LLC in Panama City, Fla. The plant nursery used an automatic watering system to freeze some of the plants to help protect them from further dropping temperatures. (Patti Blake/News Herald via AP)
Ice covers various plants on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018 at Calo Farms LLC in Panama City, Fla. The plant nursery used an automatic watering system to freeze some of the plants to help protect them from further dropping temperatures. (Patti Blake/News Herald via AP)
Mirni Dulany, 10, gets a taste of the snowflakes as they fall Wednesday morning near her home at Monterey Square in Savannah, Ga., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. A brutal winter storm dumped snow in Tallahassee, Florida, on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three decades before slogging up the Atlantic coast and smacking Southern cities such as Savannah and Charleston, South Carolina, with a rare blast of snow and ice. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News via AP)
Ramon Martinez takes advantage of little car traffic to pull a sleigh filled with his children Amy and Anthony down Bull Street toward Monterey Square, in Savannah, Ga. Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Snow started falling late Wednesday morning in the Savannah area shutting down the city. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News via AP)
A Michigan State Police vehicle heads down a closed section of eastbound I-94, east of the I-196 exit, while responding to a multi-car accident Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Benton Township, Mich.(Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Michigan State Police respond to a multi-vehicle accident along eastbound I-94 between the I-196 and Coloma exits Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, in Benton Township, Mich.(Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
Savannah College of Art and Design student Helene Fischer fashions a small snowman on a park bench in Forsyth Park Wednesday morning, Jan. 3, 2018. Fischer, who is from Florida, experience snow for the first time. A brutal winter storm dumped snow in Tallahassee, Fla., on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three decades before slogging up the Atlantic coast and smacking Southern cities such as Savannah and Charleston, South Carolina, with a rare blast of snow and ice. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News via AP)
Crews work to repair downed utility lines along highway 301 near Hilliard, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, just south of the Georgia state line, after an ice coated tree branch fell, taking the ice covered lines down with it. A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP)
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Une violente tempête hivernale a déversé de la neige et du verglas sur le sud des États-Unis mercredi, couvrant d’un manteau blanc des villes qui n’avaient pas assisté à un tel spectacle depuis des décennies.
Du Texas à la Géorgie, des voitures ont dérapé sur la chaussée glacée. Les activités aquatiques de Disney World et des autres parcs d’amusement de la Floride ont fermé en raison des températures inhabituellement froides.
Les écoles du sud-est des États-Unis ont également fermé et les autorités ont exhorté les automobilistes à ne pas prendre le volant dans une région peu habituée aux conditions de route qui prévalent dans le nord-est du pays en hiver.
Ces nouvelles intempéries s’ajoutent à la vague de froid extrême qui sévit un peu partout aux États-Unis depuis quelques jours.
Les météorologues ont prévenu que la situation pourrait empirer, surtout dans le nord-est du pays. Un avertissement de tempête hivernale était en vigueur mercredi depuis la région du «Big Bend» en Floride, qui donne sur le golfe du Mexique, jusqu’à la côte atlantique.
Toujours selon les météorologues, les vents dignes d’un ouragan qui souffleront jeudi au large pourraient provoquer des ondes de tempête de sept mètres, des inondations et des pannes de courant le long du littoral.
