More than 1.5 million American homes will be without power on Friday due to a massive winter storm. New York State has declared a state of emergency to give emergency services more resources. Elsewhere, airports have had to close and fatal traffic accidents have occurred due to the slipperiness.
According to the US National Weather Service NWS, this is a historic winter storm. The temperature dropped below -40 degrees in some places. It will probably be even colder in the next few days.
The extreme weather is accompanied by a lot of snow. More than two-thirds of the population are warned about the conditions. This affects more than 200 million Americans.
“Such a storm occurs once in a generation and can have widespread, disruptive and potentially crippling effects in the center and east of the country,” the NWS said.
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Major problems in the eastern states
According to the latest reports, the problems are greatest in the eastern states of North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed. Buffalo Niagara International Airport in New York State even had to close due to inclement weather.
That while the end of December is one of the busiest times of the year for American airports. According to reporters from BBC news airports are overrun with stranded travelers sleeping on chairs. About 10,000 of the approximately 45,000 daily flights in the United States were also canceled on Thursday.
Number of victims unclear
It is unclear how many victims the winter storm has claimed so far. In the state of Kentucky, three motorists died in accidents on slippery roads. Police distributed blankets to motorists waiting in traffic jams for the road to be cleared.
President Joe Biden already warned his people about the storm Thursday. “This is serious. It’s dangerous and threatening. It’s not like the snowy days of your childhood.”
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