(Reuters) – A massive winter storm moving across the eastern half of the U.S. on Tuesday ahead of a forecast brutal freeze this weekend knocked out power to over 302,000 homes and businesses in nine states. The hardest hit states so far were Georgia with over 65,000 power outages, Florida with over 62,000 outages and Alabama with over 58,000 outages, according to data from PowerOutage.us. Southern Co operates the biggest power companies in Georgia and Alabama, while NextEra Energy is the biggest power provider in Florida. Extreme weather is a reminder of the February freeze in 2021 that left m…