USA: Winter storm death toll rises

Due to the extreme weather conditions caused by the winter storm ‘Elliot’, several people have died in the United States. There are several media reports on the number of deaths. The Arctic cold front is now moving towards Canada.

Meanwhile, winter storm ‘Elliot’ has been moving across the United States for about three days. Several people have already died from the extreme weather conditions, with the majority of deaths resulting from car crashes.

The number of victims fluctuates in media reports: the NBC broadcaster spoke of at least 28 dead, citing official information. CNN reported 22 people who died from the winter storm. Other media reported the number of 18 or 19 dead. The AP news agency recently reported at least 34 deaths.

At least three people died in Erie County, New York, on Saturday, county official Marc Poloncarz confirmed on Twitter. The New York Times said 911 did not arrive in time for two of them. The reason for this was heavy snow. Not even the snowplows could have cleared the streets.

More snow expected on the Great Lakes

But the situation in most states is gradually calming down. According to the United States Weather Service, the center of the Arctic cold front has now moved north and is now over eastern Canada. However, in the region around the Great Lakes in the northeastern United States, which is still heavily affected, further heavy snow is expected, which will be accompanied by strong wind gusts. This could cause blizzard-like conditions.

Also Sunday night, the coldest temperature in the country was measured at minus 33.9 degrees Celsius in the state of North Dakota west of the Great Lakes. In some states, temperatures have dropped to about minus 45 degrees Celsius since Friday.

In the wake of the cold front, temperatures have already risen again. By this time next week, on New Year’s Eve, temperatures may even be above average in many areas.

Electricity suppliers are demanding energy savings

Due to the winter storm, road, rail and air traffic was severely disrupted. Thousands of flights were canceled completely, with more than 3,000 on Saturday alone. Nearly 8,000 connections were delayed.

“Elliot” also caused power outages affecting more than 1.5 million homes and businesses across the United States. According to the “PowerOutage” website, more than 170,000 households were still without electricity on Sunday morning. Some electricity suppliers have invited their customers to save energy so as not to burden the grid further.