South braces for another blast of dangerous cold

Hundreds of National Guard troops in ice-stricken Mississippi and Tennessee mobilized Thursday to clear debris and assist people stranded in cars or stuck at homes still without electricity as the Southern states raced to recover from a crippling winter storm before another blast of dangerous cold hits Friday.

- SOPHIE BATES, JEFF MARTIN AND RUSS BYNUM

ANGELA WEISS AFP/Getty Images A VESSEL travels the icy Hudson River in New York after the huge storm that hit the Northeast and South.

The National Weather Service said arctic air moving into the Southeast will cause already frigid temperatures to plunge into the teens Friday night in cities such as Nashville, where more than 85,000 homes and businesses still had no power five days after a massive storm dumped snow and ice across the eastern U.S.

At least 80 people have died in areas afflicted with bitter cold from Texas to New Jersey. Nearly half the deaths were reported in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The extended deep freeze has left some people increasingly desperate in a region unaccustomed to and illequipped for such cold.

Emergency dispatchers in Mississippi were getting calls from people running out of food and medications while stuck at home. In Tennessee, social workers, police and firefighters made welfare checks on residents who hadn't been heard from in days.

"No one really knew that it was going to be like this, or how bad," said CJ Bynum, who was using his Jeep to help drivers stranded along Interstate 55, where 18-wheel trucks still lined the icy highway in northern Mississippi two days after traffic ground to a halt.