ATLANTA — A winter storm stalking the South disrupted a new governor’s inaugural ceremonies in North Carolina, triggered hundreds of fender benders in Tennessee and led shoppers to empty out shelves of bread and milk.

Road workers manning 12-hour shifts rushed to pre-treat roads as states of emergency were declared in Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas as the storm closed in amid threats of snow, sleet, freezing rain and gusting winds.

Shelves of bottled water sit mostly empty at a supermarket in Atlanta on Friday. Shoppers emptied shelves of bread and milk, road workers began working 12-hour shifts, and states of emergency were declared in Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas ahead of a winter storm stalking the South. Associated Press/David Goldman

Winter storm warnings were issued for parts of Alabama and Georgia, including Atlanta, and into the Carolinas and part of Virginia. Schools canceled classes in several states. Officials warned that their Southern cities, with far fewer snowplows than up north, could grind to a halt with even a thin coat of ice or snow.

The winter mess was blamed for hundreds of fender benders and other non-injury crashes, some involving school buses, on Nashville roads coated by 1 to 2 inches of snow early Friday. Nashville’s city school district ordered classes to start as scheduled but had to hastily call early dismissals as police reports of non-injury crashes multiplied. All students were later transported safely home.

In North Carolina, the storm threat sent incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and his invitees scrambling to the Executive Mansion ballroom for an abridged swearing-in ceremony Friday. A larger outdoor ceremony Saturday organized for thousands had to be scrapped.

“Consider yourselves the chosen few,” Cooper joked.

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