"Winter Storms Ravage U.S. with Power Outages and Flash Flooding"

A massive winter storm has caused power outages for over 418,000 homes and businesses in 12 states across the eastern US, with Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina being the hardest hit. The storm is expected to be followed by a brutal freeze, leading to projected record gas demand for heating. Despite the approaching cold, spot power and gas prices have not reacted much to the storm, but gas futures have soared about 30% over the past six days. The December 2022 storm, known as Elliott, almost caused the collapse of power and natural gas systems in parts of the eastern US, and some energy companies had to impose rotating outages to maintain electric reliability.