At least 500K without power after winter storm

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Another storm that pummeled the Southeastern United States left as many as half a million people without power Thursday morning.

Nearly 230,000 million homes and businesses in Georgia were without power after the storm blew through Wednesday night, utilities reported early Thursday.

Georgia Power spokeswoman Carol Boatright said that number has actually come down, as almost 500,000 people lost power overnight, but Georgia Power has been able to restore service to many.

Our customer service center is getting quite a few calls from people who have been without power for more than 24 hours in what is a cold and wet environment," Boatright said. "People are getting very concerned and upset about their situation."

Another 200,000 customers in South Carolina and 90,000 in North Carolina were also suffering outages.

And while Atlanta seems to have learned its lesson after poor planning left thousands stuck in traffic jams, many drivers on North Carolina roads were left stranded as slippery road conditions caused crashes and miles-long backups.

[NBC News] [CNN]