A rare frigid storm charged through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow that

The heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain hitting parts of the Deep South came as a blast of Arctic air plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern US into a deep freeze.

A winter storm sweeping across the south is now responsible for claiming several lives in a vehicle crash on an icy Texas highway. Schools are closed, snow is piling up and freezing temperatures are widespread as the storm tracks from Texas,