Ice covers trees and bushes outside of Walmart in extremely cold weather in Cleveland, Mississippi, February 11, 2021.
Rory Doyle | Reuters
Hundreds of Walmart stores are temporarily closed as winter weather in Texas, the southeast and other parts of the country results in severe ice and power outages.
The big box retailer said 456 stores and clubs will be closed as of Tuesday lunchtime. That’s nearly 9% of the more than 5,300 Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations.
Other retailers and restaurants also kept stores closed or sent workers home because of the extreme weather. Kroger has closed some locations and cut opening times in stores in Houston and Dallas, according to its website. Target closed 10 stores due to winter weather, most of them in Texas, according to a company spokeswoman.
In Texas, more than 4.2 million people woke up Tuesday without electricity because the state’s power grid couldn’t keep up with heat demands at record temperatures. Cold temperatures, snow, and freezing rain are also forecast for many other regions, including New England, the Great Plains, and the Mississippi Valley, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm has interrupted the service at the FedEx hub in Memphis and caused parcel delays in the US, the company said. It has prevented pickup and delivery in certain cities, company spokeswoman Shannon Davis said. She said customers can monitor shipments and track the status of local service on the company’s website.
– CNBC’s Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this story.