This week, a significant portion of the country was affected by hazardous winter weather, resulting in widespread power outages and treacherous road conditions that caused fatal accidents.

Cold winter weather conditions began on Monday as part of a series of precipitation affecting Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

The National Weather Service in the Dallas-Fort Worth region announced that it broke a daily snowfall record of 1.3 inches, surpassing the previous record set in 1985.

Since Monday, at least six fatalities have been reported on the slippery roads in Texas, including a crash that claimed three lives near Brownfield, approximately 40 miles from Lubbock.

Two law enforcement officers were seriously injured, one of whom was a deputy who was trapped under a truck. The incident occurred when the deputy had pulled over to assist the driver of an 18-wheeler that had veered off an icy highway, only to be hit by another truck, as stated by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Fortunately, the deputy is expected to recover.

Emergency responders were dispatched to numerous car accidents as Governor Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid traveling due to the hazardous road conditions.

“The roads are extremely dangerous at this time. We cannot stress this enough,” he warned.

Interstate 40 in Arkansas was also covered in ice and the Forrest City Fire Department responded to two serious crashes and 15 additional accidents on Tuesday morning. By late morning, the Arkansas Department of Transportation announced that the interstate was cleared.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency in response to the storm. In Tennessee, Memphis-Shelby County Schools announced that classes would be canceled on Wednesday due to freezing rain and dangerous road conditions.