ATLANTA (TIP): Icy chaos gripped the US south on Wednesday after a rare winter storm that killed at least six people, stranded children in their schools overnight and paralyzed travel in several states, including hundreds of flight cancellations at the world’s busiest airport.

The storm slammed a region largely unaccustomed to ice and snow – stretching from Texas through Georgia and into the Carolinas on Tuesday and early Wednesday. In Atlanta, motorists remained trapped in their cars on icy Interstates on Wednesday, some of them having spent as long as 18 hours on the road. Some 791 traffic accidents were reported in the city but there were no serious injuries, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in a Wednesday news conference, adding that the focus was now on rescuing stranded motorists.