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Dozens of people have died in the teeth of a severe winter storm across the US south, with further freezing temperatures, snow and blizzards set to assail<\/a> the east coast on Saturday.<\/p>\n At least 85 people have died across multiple states, according<\/a> to an Associated Press tally, with frigid conditions and icy roads causing car crashes, hypothermia and other fatal incidents.<\/p>\n The severe cold blast follows a severe snowstorm that blanketed much of the US the previous weekend, with further snowfall and freezing temperatures now set to hit the east coast. Both North Carolina and South Carolina<\/a> have declared states of emergency.<\/p>\n \u201cAs another round of winter weather moves into North Carolina<\/a>, this time possibly bringing snow, I urge everyone to stay alert and take precautions,\u201d the state\u2019s governor, Josh Stein, said.<\/p>\n At least 10 people have been found dead outside in the cold in New York City. There are also 13 confirmed deaths in Tennessee and nine fatalities in Louisiana<\/a>.<\/p>\n A cold blast of air that has come down from the Arctic<\/a> has officials bracing for further dangerous conditions. Rising global temperatures may, counterintuitively, be weakening the polar vortex winds that hold such cold air over the Arctic, causing it to spill out further south<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina \u2013 whose official seal is the sun, palm trees and a seagull \u2013 6in (15cm) of snow was expected. The city has no snow-removal equipment, and authorities planned to \u201cuse what we can find\u201d, the mayor, Mark Kruea, said.<\/p>\n The extreme weather has even forced the cancellation<\/a> of Saturday\u2019s Myrtle Beach Polar Plunge, an event in which participants swim in the chilly Atlantic to raise money for charity. \u201cWe strongly encourage everyone to stay home, stay warm, and stay safe while this storm moves through our area,\u201d the event\u2019s Facebook page advises.<\/p>\n Subfreezing weather was forecast into February, with heavy snow in the Carolinas, Virginia and north-east Georgia over the weekend including up to a foot (30cm) in parts of North Carolina. Snow was also said to be possible from Maryland<\/a> to Maine.<\/p>\n On Saturday night and early Sunday, forecasters said, wind and snow could lead to blizzard conditions before the storm moves out to sea. The frigid cold was expected to plunge as far south as Florida.<\/p>\n Temperatures neared the teens (-10C) in Nashville, Tennessee<\/a>, and frustrations bubbled up for those who spent a week without power.<\/p>\n Terry Miles, a 59-year-old construction worker whose home has had no electricity since a previous storm struck on Sunday, resorted to using a fish fryer for heat and worried about the danger of carbon monoxide.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m taking a chance of killing myself and killing my wife, because \u2013 why?\u201d Miles said after attending a Nashville Electric Service (NES) news conference intended to showcase the utility\u2019s repairs on poles and lines. He then pointed to officials.<\/p>\n