“The four (4) Great Judgments that Allah (God) promises to destroy America with are now coming upon her … hail, snow, drought, earthquake. Allah (God) has reserved His treasures of snow and ice to be used against the wicked country America in the day of battle and war. These are some of Allah’s (God’s) weapons, the storms that we see going on.” —The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, “The Fall of America,” Chapter 34
Around the country, cities and states issued weather alerts ahead of the projected 2,000-mile winter storm that was expected to impact over 230 million people and hammering two-thirds of the United States.
According to the Weather Channel, from the South, Midwest and Northeast, Winter Storm Fern began pouring heavy rain, snow and ice on Jan. 23. Either heavy snow or ice was forecast for two out of every three Americans over 34 states from the storm.
At Final Call presstime meteorologists predicted that the massive storm would subside on Jan. 26, but not after dumping potentially damaging ice and heavy snow and freezing rain.
“In more than 30 states stretching across the country, the messages are growing more urgent about the impacts of the massive and potentially historic Winter Storm Fern rolling in today,” stated the Weather Channel’s Renee Straker.
“Multiple states have made emergency declarations, schools and public offices are closing and people are being urged to have their emergency supplies ready and to get off the roads as soon as they can,” she continued.
Washington, D.C. braced for at least nine inches of snow, and states of emergency were declared for Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Nearly 13,500 flights had already been canceled since Jan. 24, with nearly 15,000 cancellations expected through Jan. 26, according to flight-tracking data.
It was too cold for school in Chicago and other Midwestern cities Jan. 24 as a huge, dayslong winter storm began to intensify and brought bone-chilling temperatures as well as extensive power outages to about half the U.S. population from Texas to New England.
ABC News indicated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was staging resources ahead of the storm, including prepositioning supplies and equipment. And at Camp Minden in Louisiana, FEMA was staging 250,000 meals, 400,000 liters of water and 30 generators, continued ABC News.
Associated Press reported that weather forecasters warned that the damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival a hurricane. Meteorologists blamed a stretched polar vortex, moisture.
And lack of sea ice for the dangerous winter blast, reported AP. Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed, reported AP’s coverage team.
“America, this could be The Big One,” posted the Morning Brew on X.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam warned that Allah (God) will punish America with the forces of nature including rain, hail, snow and earthquakes.
In His book, “The Fall of America,” in the chapter, “America Surrounded with The Judgment of Allah,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad wrote, “The forces of nature are great weapons as we see them in play upon America.
Storms after storms of snow and ice are rolling in from the North and are pushing great drifts that are just covering up everything. What can you do with a God like that?”
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, for decades, has warned America and the world to “watch the weather.”
“I’ve been telling you, watch the weather. Every day the weather is getting worse and worse. The White meteorologists cannot tell you what the weather’s going to be; but my teacher told me. Who’s your teacher, Farrakhan? My teacher is the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Without him and the Great Mahdi, I wouldn’t be here, but he told me there are two of us backing you up: Allah and myself,” Minister Farrakhan said in a 2019, message titled, “The Man Jesus and How Not To Fall Into Idolatry.”
Meteorologists explained that the polar vortex, which is a patch of bitterly cold air usually penned up in northern Canada and Alaska, was being elongated by a wave in the upper atmosphere that goes back to a relatively ice-free part of the Arctic and snow-buried Siberi, reported AP.
Winter Storm Fern could be historic due to its massive scale, “catastrophic” ice storm, heavy snowstorm, and record cold, according to Jonathan Erdman, senior meteorologist at the Weather Channel.
Ice accumulations led to widespread, long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions. Widespread freezing rain and sleet was expected South of the primary snow axis, to affect parts of the Southern Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee Valley, the Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic.
“This could be the region’s most widespread, damaging ice storm in at least several years, with damage that could take days to recover from,” reported the National Weather Service (NWS).
Areas, such as Nashville, Tenn.; Charlotte, N.C. and Shreveport, La., were projected to receive a foot or more of snowfall. For some areas of the country, 12-inch-plus snowstorms are rare, or haven’t happened in a while, according to the NWS.
“We are in this together. We are witnessing this together. I pray that there is a minimal loss of life. I pray that there is minimal loss of property,” stated Sister Alva Muhammad, a Chicago-based volunteer disaster preparedness instructor.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has warned us, repeatedly, to watch the weather, and he is our Divine Warner. And so, these are opportunities for us to assess our level of preparedness,” she said.
“These are opportunities for us to find weaknesses in our own preparedness efforts and strengthen those areas where we are weak. These are opportunities within the trials, and I pray that we’re taking advantage of them for what they are, because the weather events are becoming more and more extreme, and we just need to recognize when it happens, we have to be ready.”
Final Call staff contributed to this report. Please see page 29 for more information on disaster and emergency preparedness.