DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: The region with the biggest weather problems is the Southeast: Hundreds of thousands of people are without power this morning after being hit by a weekend ice storm; made travel tough and coated trees with heavy limbs, snapping ice. CNN's Eric Horng has more.</s>ERIC HORNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cleanup continues in much of the Southeast after snow and freezing rain swept through Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas; an icy surprise for those accustomed to relatively docile winters.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's awful. It's a big mess.</s>HORNG: In Charlotte, a U.S. Airways jet skids off the runway; none of the 142 passengers on board is injured. In Atlanta and surrounding counties, power is knocked out to hundreds of thousands of people. And on interstates and local roads throughout the Southeast, icy hazards abound. Authorities temporarily closed off slick interstate ramps near Atlanta, slowing traffic to a crawl, but the spinouts continue. And one police officer, while aiding a stranded motorist, found himself in need of help as well. Officer Warren Hinsman (ph) suffers a broken leg when two vehicles collide and skid off the road. Hinsman is struck by a minivan, but he's able to gingerly limp from the scene. Elsewhere in Georgia, crews worked feverishly to restore power to hundreds of thousands of electric customers, many without heat. The state's first frozen precipitation of the season snapping tree branches and downing power lines.</s>HORNG: One hundred and fifty-thousand homes and businesses throughout the state of Georgia remain without power this morning, including this gas station here in Atlanta. And officials say, could be tomorrow or possibly Wednesday before everyone gets their power back on. In the meantime, Governor Roy Barnes has issued a state of emergency for 20 North Georgia counties, making them eligible for state funding to aid in the cleanup. Eric Horng, CNN, reporting live in Atlanta.</s>KELLEY: All right, Eric, thanks very much.
Weekend Ice Storms Deliver Southern Discomfort