Winter storms batter large swaths of US

At least six deaths were attributed to severe weather in the US as heavy snow and high winds snarled air and ground transportation during a busy holiday travel period.

More than 500 flight cancellations and 5,700 delays were reported Friday as the winter storm blanketed areas from the north central plains and the Midwest with eight to 12 inches of snow.

As much snow, if not more, was forecast to fall in the coming days in the southwestern state of New Mexico, along with a deluge of rain in some southern and eastern states -- ruining New Year travel plans for thousands of Americans.

Millions more in the South were warned of potential flooding from heavy rains.

A 58-year-old woman in Louisiana was killed Wednesday evening when lightning struck a tree which then fell on her home, according to TV station WDSU.

In Kansas, police said icy roads caused a fatal car crash Thursday on an interstate highway. Another crash involving a snowplow and a car in North Dakota claimed one life.

A woman on a camping trip in Tennessee with two men died while attempting to cross a creek in the state's Marion County, a local ABC affiliate reported.

Two people were killed in Minnesota. A 51-year-old man died Thursday when his car was struck by a pickup truck with a plow blade in poor visibility conditions, a local Fox affiliate quoted officials as saying.

A 47-year-old woman meanwhile died in the state's Sherburne County after a bus she was on collided with an SUV on Thursday, a CBS affiliate station said. Nine others were injured.

More than 6,500 flights were delayed and some 800 more were canceled on Thursday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

Some airline passengers reported being stranded for days.

"I didn't want to spend three days in the airport, missing out on the holidays -- New Year's and all that," Anthony Scott told Texas television station KDFW at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

"I have to go back to work the first of the year. So this is my time," he said. "This was my little vacation. I'm not trying to spend it in the airport."
"Crews are working but mother nature is making safe travel tough."