(CNN)A dreaded "bomb cyclone" is pummeling the East Coast, hurling blinding snow and wind gusts akin to a Category 1 hurricane.

Latest developments

Governor: Power won't be fixed in extreme winds

Expect more bone-chilling temperatures

Snowfall blankets the Southeast

Bomb cyclones collect cold air

CNN's Chuck Johnston, Kristina Sgueglia, Jennifer Varian, Keith Allan and Evan Simko-Bednarski contributed to this report.

Tonya Sampson, a homeless woman in Houston, tries to warm up by a fire under the Eastex Freeway on Tuesday, January 1. Plunging overnight temperatures in Texas brought rare snow flurries as far south as Austin. Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle/AP

The hat of firefighter Bobby Lehman is caked in ice after he battled a blaze in Nahant, Massachusetts, on Monday, January 1. Christopher Evans/Boston Herald/Polaris

Commuters brave sub-zero temperatures as they make their way to work in Chicago on Tuesday, January 2. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Omar Elkhalidi scrapes ice off his windshield in Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday, January 3. Only a few motorists ventured out in freezing rain that coated bridges and ramps with ice, forcing police to close roads and highways. Stephen B. Morton/AP

Icicles form on a outdoor string of lights in Houston on Tuesday, January 2. Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle/AP

Two photographers are silhouetted against the frozen surface of the Reflecting Pool in Washington as they capture the first sunrise of the new year. J. David Ake/AP