More than 220 million people across the United States are facing dangerous cold that will also open the door for a potentially historic and crippling winter storm that could deliver snow as far south as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.

Widespread reports of 5″ to 12″ of snowfall were reported around Pensacola on Tuesday evening, which caused troopers to shut down a nearly 70-mile stretch of Interstate 10. National Weather Service offices along the corridor issued a rare Winter Storm Warning for counties from Pensacola to Jacksonville and warned of snow and ice accumulations that could make travel hazardous.

The US Department of Defense is deploying 1,500 active-duty service members along with additional air and intelligence assets to the southern border to support enforcement operations already underway.

Thousands of additional active duty US troops are being ordered to the southern US border with Mexico, just two days after President Donald Trump mandated that the US military step up its presence there,