Ice covers trees and bushes outside Walmart in extremely cold weather in Cleveland, Mississippi, February 11, 2021.
Rory Doyle | Reuters
Hundreds of Walmart stores are temporarily closed as winter weather causes severe ice and power outages in Texas, the southeast and other parts of the country.
The retailer said 456 shops and clubs are closed at noon on Tuesday. This represents almost 9% of Sam’s Club’s over 5,300 stores and locations.
Other retailers and restaurants also kept shops closed or sent workers home due to extreme weather. Kroger closed some locations and shortened hours at stores in Houston and Dallas, according to its website. Target has closed 10 stores due to winter weather, most of them in Texas, a company spokeswoman said.
In Texas, more than 4.2 million people woke up without power on Tuesday as the state’s power grid could not keep up with heat demand during record temperatures. Cold temperatures, snow and freezing rain are forecast for many other regions, including New England, the Great Plain and the Mississippi Valley, according to the National Weather Service.
Severe weather disrupted services at the FedEx hub in Memphis and caused package delays in the United States, the company said. It prevented pick-up and delivery in some cities, company spokesman Shannon Davis said. She said customers can monitor deliveries and track local service status on the company’s website.
– CNBC Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this story.