DALLAS (AP) — Texas and Oklahoma braced for heavy snow and ice that could make roadways treacherous Friday in what forecasters predict will be some of the initial effects of a huge, dayslong winter storm threatening catastrophic damage, extensive power outages and bitterly cold weather to the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.

In the Houston area, a utility company had 3,300 employees ready to work the winter storm, while Oklahoma’s Department of Transportation pretreated highways and interstates with salt brine. Freezing rain and sleet were also expected in New Mexico as early as Friday.

The massive storm system is expected to bring a crippling ice storm from Texas through parts of the South, potentially around a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Oklahoma through Washington, D.C., New York and Boston, and then a final punch of bitterly cold air that could drop wind chills to minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 46 Celsius) in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Forecasters are warning the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. About 160 million people were under winter storm or cold weather watches or warnings — and in many places both.

Cold air streaming down from Canada caused Chicago Public Schools and Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa to cancel classes Friday. Wind chills predicted to be as low as minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 37 Celsius) could cause frostbite within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.

The cold punch coming after means it will take a while to thaw out, an especially dangerous prospect in places where ice and snow weighs down tree branches and power lines and cuts electricity, perhaps for days. Roads and sidewalks could remain icy well into next week.

Ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially in windy weather.

Freezing temperatures are expected all the way to Florida, forecasters said.

A severe cold snap five years ago took down much of the power grid in Texas, leaving millions without power for days and resulting in hundreds of deaths. Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that won’t happen again, saying the power system “has never been stronger.”

Winter storms can be notoriously tricky to forecast, with forecasters saying the places with the worst weather can’t be pinned down until the event starts.

Governors in Georgia and Mississippi have declared states of emergency.

In Huntsville, Alabama, employees from Jomo’s Power Equipment, Parts & Service Inc. sold dozens of generators within about a day and ordered an emergency shipment to meet customer demand.

“I’d say 95% of the calls were generator-related or either service or ‘Do you have any generators in stock,’” Bryan Hill, the store’s manager, said Thursday.

Lindsay Sylvester in Toney, Alabama, stocked up early in the week on bread and other supplies at her home and sent her son, who is in college, bread, gloves, candles and hand warmers.

Sylvester said she went to the store early in the week because she knew supplies would be depleted close to the weekend.

“A couple of people I heard talking about they had gone to Walmart and there was no milk, no bread,” she said. “All the necessities were gone.”

As a precaution, North Carolina’s largest public school system prepared for potentially several days out of physical classrooms next week, telling its teachers to create three days of assignments accessible online or through paper copies.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger told residents to prepare for days without power or the ability to leave their neighborhoods. And in a nod to the politics of the time, the newly inaugurated Democrat said people should not be scared to call 911 in an emergency just because of the immigration crackdowns going on in places like Minnesota.

Arkansas Department of Transportation spokesperson Dave Parker pleaded for people to be patient and stay home if possible once the storm hits.

By Thursday, airlines had canceled hundreds of flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday, including at airports in Dallas, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

At a busy grocery store near downtown Dallas, Kennedi Mallard and Frank Green loaded two shopping carts full of supplies into their car. They said there were some bare shelves inside.

“No water, no eggs, no butter, no ground meat,” Green said.

___

Megnien reported from Atlanta and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers around the country contributed to this report.

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 Cashius Howell, EDGE

• Height: 6’2
• Weight: 248 lbs
• Class: RS-Senior
• School: Texas A&M
• STATS

An underweight former three-star recruit out of Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was 30th ranked in his state and the 207th ranked athlete during the 2021 recruiting cycle. Howell initially attended Bowling Green University, where he played three seasons. He shined in his third season, earning 44 pressures. 

Howell entered the transfer portal after the 2023 season and took his talents to Texas A&M for his final two collegiate years. He was a four-star recruit in the transfer portal – the 8th ranked EDGE and the 60th overall player.  

Howell is high energy and he recorded 75 pressures over his two seasons as an Aggie, along with 51 hurries and 43 STOPs. Pro Football Focus had him with a 90+ pass rushing grade in each of his last three seasons. 

He was a Unanimous All-American in 2025 and was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year – domination! He was also Third Team All-MAC in 2023. Howell will be in attendance at the Senior Bowl.

Strengths

• Shorter build with exceptional burst off the LOS
• Very good athlete with excellent get-off and lateral agility
• Very explosive player with excellent closing burst
• Sifts through tight quarters smoothly – good twitch 
• Excellent ability to win high side
• Very good bend at the top of the arc
• Has an array of pass rushing moves in his arsenal
• Violent cross-chop w/ inside spin moves + an ability to convert speed to power
• Controlled spin moves and excellent footwork with his counters
• Most dangerous move is high-side rush w/ rip
• Threatens high side enough to work his secondary/tertiary moves
• Can sink the inside shoulder fluidly w/ elite cornering ability 
• Physical at the point of attack with good overall play strength 
• His strength his maximized when moving forward and hunting
• Solid at setting the edge, although technique can improve to mask size concern
• Does well against tight ends in the run game – physically separates and finds football
• Quick to find the correct path on the backside to make tackles
• Has an excellent nose for the football 
• Good tackler with very good pursuit ability
• High football IQ – understands angles with excellent reactive quickness
• Knows when to get his mitts in the air to bat passes down
• Can drop into coverage – won’t be lost
• Versatile and can be aligned across the front

Weaknesses

• Is shorter than most EDGE rushers
• Frame is lean 
• Arm length will be a major discussion point 
• Athletic ability is more conducive to going forward rather than backward
• Has counter moves but could be more efficient getting to them effectively 
• Not a liability as a run defender but it’s a work in progress
• Technique/positioning can improve as run defender vs. tackles
• Runs himself out of his run responsibility too frequently 
• Not the most natural in coverage but can do it
• Is an older prospect
• Wears his emotions on his sleeves – can toe the line of drawing a whistle 

A Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas died after guards held him down and he stopped breathing, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday that ruled the death a homicide.

Geraldo Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 following an altercation with guards. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the 55-year-old father of four was attempting suicide and the staff tried to save him.

But a witness told The Associated Press last week that Lunas Campos was handcuffed as at least five guards held him down and one put an arm around his neck and squeezed until he was unconscious.

His death was one of at least three reported in little more than a month at Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent facility in the desert on the grounds of Fort Bliss, an Army base.

The autopsy report by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office found Lunas Campos’ body showed signs of a struggle, including abrasions on his chest and knees. He also had hemorrhages on his neck. The deputy medical examiner, Dr. Adam Gonzalez. determined the cause of death was asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.

The report said witnesses saw Lunas Campos “become unresponsive while being physically restrained by law enforcement.” It did not elaborate on what happened during the struggle but cited evidence of injuries to his neck, head and torso associated with physical restraint. The report also noted the presence of petechial hemorrhages — tiny blood spots from burst capillaries that can be associated with intense strain or injury — in the eyelids and skin of the neck.

Dr. Victor Weedn, a forensic pathologist who reviewed the autopsy report for the AP, said the presence of petechiae in the eyes support the conclusion that asphyxia caused the death. Those injuries suggest pressure on the body and are often associated with such deaths, he said.

He said the contusions on Lunas Campos’ body may reflect physical restraint and the neck injuries were consistent with a hand or knee on the neck.

The autopsy also found the presence of prescription antidepressant and antihistamine medications, adding that Lunas Campos had a history of bipolar disorder and anxiety. It made no mention of him attempting suicide.

ICE’s initial account of the death, which included no mention of an altercation with guards, said Lunas Campos had become disruptive and staff moved him into a cellblock where detainees are held away from others.

“While in segregation, staff observed him in distress and contacted on-site medical personnel for assistance,” the agency said in its Jan. 9 statement. “Medical staff responded, initiated lifesaving measures, and requested emergency medical services.”

Lunas Campos was pronounced dead after paramedics arrived.

Last Thursday, after Lunas Campos’ family was first informed the death was likely to be ruled a homicide, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin amended the government’s account, saying he had attempted suicide and guards tried to help him.

“Campos violently resisted the security staff and continued to attempt to take his life,” she said. “During the ensuing struggle, Campos stopped breathing and lost consciousness.”

After the final autopsy report was released Wednesday, McLaughlin issued a statement emphasizing that Lunas Campos was “a criminal illegal alien and convicted child sex predator.”

New York court records show Lunas Campos was convicted in 2003 of sexual contact with a person under 11, a felony for which he was sentenced to one year in jail and placed on the state’s sex offender registry. Lunas Campos was also sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervision in 2009 after being convicted of attempting to sell a controlled substance, according to the New York corrections records. He completed the sentence in January 2017.

“ICE takes seriously the health and safety of all those detained in our custody,” McLaughlin said Wednesday, adding that the agency was investigating the death. DHS has not responded to questions about whether any outside law enforcement agency was also investigating.

It was not immediately clear whether the guards present when Lunas Campos died were government employees or those of a private contractor.

A final determination of homicide by the medical examiner would typically be critical in determining whether any guards are held criminally or civilly liable. The fact that Lunas Campos died on an Army base could limit state and local officials’ legal jurisdiction to investigate.

Lunas Campos was among the first detainees sent to Camp Montana East, arriving in September after ICE arrested him in Rochester, New York, where he lived for more than two decades. He was legally admitted to the U.S. in 1996, part of a wave of Cuban immigrants seeking to reach Florida by boat.

ICE said he was picked up in July as part of a planned immigration enforcement operation due to criminal convictions that made him eligible for removal.

In addition to Lunas Campos, ICE announced that on Dec. 3 an immigrant from Guatemala held in Camp East Montana died after being transferred to a El Paso hospital for care. While the cause of death was still pending, the agency said Francisco Gaspar-Andres, 48, was suspected to have died of liver and kidney failure.

On Sunday, ICE announced that Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old immigrant from Nicaragua, died at Camp East Montana on Jan. 14 of a “presumed suicide.” The agency said Diaz was detained by ICE earlier this month during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Unlike with the two prior deaths, Diaz’s body wasn’t sent to the county medical examiner in El Paso.

The government awarded Acquisition Logistics a $1.24 billion contract to build and operate Camp East Montana, which opened in August of last year. 

A house in suburban Richmond, Virginia, is listed as the headquarters of Acquisition Logistics and has no public record of running a detention facility before this one. 

In an interview with CBS News in September, Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas, who had been inside the facility twice at that point, described it as a “giant tent city.”

“There are hard floors. There are walls that go up, probably about three-quarters of the way to the ceiling,” she said at the time.

Escobar said she saw about 1,500 people inside during one visit.

McLaughlin said Wednesday that the autopsy for Diaz is being performed at the Army medical center at Fort Bliss. DHS again did not respond to questions about whether any agency other than ICE will investigate the death.

Escobar on Wednesday called on DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons to brief Congress about the recent deaths.

“DHS must preserve all evidence — including halting their effort to deport the witnesses,” Escobar said Wednesday. “I reiterate my call for Camp East Montana to be shut down and for the contract with the corporation running it to be terminated.”