How the South’s grid could fail this winter — and what to do about it

With El Niño favoring a wetter winter, swinging temperatures could turn that moisture into dangerous freezing rain and ice anywhere from Louisiana and Mississippi to Florida and the Carolinas. The South leans on electric heat more than any other region, and when a hard freeze hits, heat pumps switch to power-hungry backup heat right as ice threatens the lines carrying it — straining a grid that’s already stretched thin.

(MORE: Super El Niño nears record strength)