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Tens of thousands without power as winter storm sweeps through south-east of US

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Tens of thousands were left without power when a winter storm made up of ice, high winds and snow battered the south-east of the US.

Governors of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina have all declared emergencies due to the storm.

More than 200,000 homes and businesses in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia reported power outages in the wake of the storm, according to a website tracking power outages PowerOutage.US.

Vehicles crossing the Northwest Angle ice road at Lake of the Woods between Warroad and Angle Inlet, Minnesota (AFP via Getty Images)
Vehicles crossing the Northwest Angle ice road at Lake of the Woods between Warroad and Angle Inlet, Minnesota (AFP via Getty Images)

Widespread travel disruption saw more than 3,000 flights within, into or out of the US cancelled on Sunday and more than 8,000 flights delayed, according to FlightAware data.

More than 90% of the flights into and out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina were cancelled, the FlightAware website showed.

Winter weather alerts were put in place for more than 1,000 miles from Alabama to Maine.

In the storm, two people died when they lost control of their car in Raleigh in North Carolina. Some regions in North Carolina had experienced record snowfall.

The highest snowfall was expected to blanket the Appalachians as well as across the lower Great Lakes.

In Canada, the storm is expected to bring up to 16 inches of snow through Monday morning over parts of southern and eastern Ontario - the government weather agency Environment Canada said.

The storm made its path through to the Mid-Atlantic region toward New England on Sunday night, the National Weather Service said.

It is a long weekend for most Americans as Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday.