our coverage starts with erica edwards in charlotte, north carolina. >> it is windy and cold. the snow has turned to rain. cars stuck along a major highway. it is cleared, but other cars are stuck along the roads as well. >> as the sleet conditions officials are worried about ice. half a million are without power across the south-east. people have been told to stay home. schools are closed for thursday. >> erica edwards reporting. >> one resident was stuck in the storm five hours and had to walk five hours to get home with the kids and joins us on the telephone. sue, welcome. >> thank you. >> tell us what happened? >> i left my kids home, they didn't have school. i was popping out for a short job. the weather just came up very suddenly. it went from the first couple of slicks to dangerous driving conditions within 10 minutes. were you worried about the warnings that you weren't supposed to go out. >> yes - well, i was aware of the storm coming, but had checked the forecast and it seemed like i would have time to go out do this and get home. >> then what happened. >> i miscalcu

erica edwards is in charlotte, north carolina where the snow is falling. >> atlanta is a ghostly, icy vision frozen in time. salt trucks worked overnight to prepare for sleet and ice. >> no city does well in dealing with ice, but we're as prepared as we can be. >> tens of thousands are left without power in the southeast. power trucks from as far as iowa have arrived to help. this is the second time in two weeks the snowstorm hit southern states not used to wintery weather. north carolina's governor declared a state of emergency. >> the next 48 hours will be tough in the carolinas from the coast all the way to the mountains. >> more than 2,000 flights canceled, virtually everything in charlotte, north carolina is closed. leaders there saw what happened in atlanta two weeks ago and said not in this town. >> i would like to say for me personally i have done this a lot of years. >> heavy snow started in charlotte midday wednesday and is expected to last all night. charlotte is largely empty. the schools and government are closed and the people are staying inside because the storm is gett

erica edwards has more on the deep freeze in the deep south. >> a winter blast had millions in the south facing white out conditions. heavy snow had officials warned to stay off the roads. >> hunker down, stay home. we want to keep everyone off the roads. they'll just get worse. the next 48 hours will be tough in the carolinases, from the coast to the mountains. >> those in charlotte who did not heed the warnings were temporarily stranded on highways. >> we've been here on hour and a half, two hours. >> the storm forced airlines to cancel 2,000 flights, leaving tens of thousands stranded. in atlanta, paralyzed by the last storm, they were ready this time. early warnings led to empty streets during the rush hour. salt trucks were out, and fire trucks were ready. >> most of the main roads are salt and treat the. just the back roads. >> roads that may fall over. >> when this freezes, it will be treacherous. >> snow day is a welcome treat for some. >> it's fun being out here. >> for many others, it's a dangerous combination of snow and ice marching up the atlantic sea board. >> winter storms

erica edwards is standing by there. what's the latest on conditions in charlotte? >> reporter: we're not used to snow like this. we are expected to get up to 8 inches here. but it's the ice, we have been watching the ice storm from georgia into carolinas, causing massive power outages to a quarter million people. officials saying stay home today and tomorrow. we have seen the images of the cars on i-277, that's the main loop around charlotte. we are not hearing reports of people abandoning their vehicles. the roads are slick and people are getting stuck. they have called off school tomorrow. >> 8 inches in charlotte, north carolina, might as well be 48 inches in the tar heel state. and bring in the meteorologist from wnbc. we know the storm is headed our way, what can we expect as the storm makes its way up the coast? >> well, the good news, we were checking out the latest computer models, and for coastal areas, it looks like a warmer storm system. we're going to mix with rain or snow or just plain old rain in the northeast. this will keep the snowfall totals down.

erica edwards, news4. >>> and right now first lady michelle obama is about to give her third announcement of the day to improve children's health. it is on the fourth anniversary of the let's move campaign. mrs. obama has unveiled targets for schools, and one is for a breakfast program to reach 9 million children, and another is to ban ads for junk foods on campuses. to highlight the fan, she recited a rap written by the students in george c. marshall eleme elementary school. ♪ don't jam my chicken in a nugget ♪ ♪ put it in a wrap hey, that is pretty good. holler. >>> and the new healthy rules arexpected the go into effect next school year. >> and a warning now that if you are a parent your child's safety seat may not provide protection in a crash, because most car seats have a weight limit and the weight slimt both the weight of the child and the weight of the seat, and it should not exceed 665 pounds. if the combined seat is too he ve, it may not work properly. aaa said that 85% of the seats had children over the weight limit. and starting thursday, child seat manufacturers will have to

. >> nbc's erica edwards is in the largest city. what's going on there? >> reporter: it is very cold and very windy. the snow is falling hard here in charlotte. we could get up to 8 inches, but the biggest worry is ice. we have been watching that ice storm as it moved up from atlanta into the carolinas. more than a quarter of a million people have been -- have lost power and could be out in the cold for days. officials are telling people to stay home today and tomorrow. we have seen a few cars stop on i-277, the main loop around eer of atlanta two weeks ago. they are not abandoning their cars. the roads are slick, there have been some accidents. everything is closed, schools, the government, kids found out they'll get another snow day tomorrow. back to you. >> thanks so much. >> next it will move up the coast and become a classic nor'east nor'easter. snow and flooding for the northeast. it's a slow-mover. the tail end isn't expected to pull out of maine until friday. let's get more from weather channel meteorologist paul goodloe, manning the maps inside t

erica edwards of nbc news is in charlotte, north carolina, with the latest there. ello. >> reporter: hi there. how are you? it is snowing here. the snow is falling hard. more than -- sorry. sorry. back to you. >> okay. that was erika. again, the storm is hitting the southeastern part of the country. atlanta couple of weeks ago under sheets of ice. cars stranded on the highway for hours overnight in some cases. kids kept on school buses. the governor, who took heat in that situation trying to get the word out much, much earlier. >> a lot of people will be working home. warming centers are set up for those who do venture out into it. they've already got, i believe, half an inch of ice. no way as you're watching here that cars will effectively drive through that. >> it's coming here. >> there will be fewer of them on the roads. >> i don't know. steve would know better, is this the survey week, household survey week for the bls, obviously it affects going forward the labor port. if we were trading weather futures i think this is the bottom. >>> to get constructive on de