Ice covers trees and shrubs outside Walmart during extreme cold weather in Cleveland, Mississippi, on February 11, 2021.
Rory Doyle | Reuters
Hundreds of Walmart stores are temporarily closed as the winter weather causes severe ice and electricity outages in Texas, the Southeast and other parts of the country.
The retailer said 456 shops and clubs are closed as of noon on Tuesday. This accounts for nearly 9% of Walmart’s more than 5,300 stores and locations at Samm Club.
Other retailers and restaurants also kept shops closed or sent workers home due to the extreme weather. Kroger closed some locations and shortened hours in stores in Houston and Dallas, according to its website. Target kept 10 stores closed due to the winter weather, with most in Texas, a company spokeswoman said.
In Texas, more than 4.2 million people woke up without electricity on Tuesday as the state’s power grid could not keep up with heat demand during record low temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, cold temperatures, snow and icy rains are forecast for many other regions, including New England, the Great Plains and the Mississippi Valley.
The severe weather has disrupted service at the FedEx center in Memphis and caused package delays across the United States, the company said. Collection and delivery in certain cities has been avoided, company spokeswoman Shannon Davis said. He said customers can track shipments and track local service status on the company’s website.
– CNBC Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this story.