A series of traffic accidents and electric shocks
More than 1800 canceled flights
As a winter storm hits the United States, the damage mounts, with nearly 30 people killed this holiday season.
NBC reported that at least 30 people were killed across the United States as a result of the winter storm that began just before Christmas, and the Associated Press reported that at least 28 people died.
Numerous deaths occurred in Buffalo, northwest New York, where up to 110 cm of snow fell. Erie County, which includes Buffalo, has a total of seven deaths, of which at least three died after first responders were left stranded and unable to receive treatment due to heavy snow. “Some of the dead were found in cars and others were found in snowdrifts on the streets,” Erie County Commissioner Mark Polonez said. “There are people who have been stuck in cars for more than two days,” he said, “it was a Christmas that nobody expected.”
In Ohio, 10 people died in separate traffic accidents, including a 50-car crash and an electric shock, while in Missouri and Kansas, four drivers died in separate crashes. A woman died after being hit by a falling tree branch in Vermont and a homeless man died below freezing in Colorado.
This winter storm, which began on the Great Plains, traversing the Midwest north to south, is causing major damage as it moves east. According to flight information site FlightAware, a total of 3,488 flights, both domestic and international, were canceled the day before Christmas Eve, and more than 1,800 flights were also canceled that day.
Power outages also continue due to heavy rain. However, as the restoration work progressed, the number of households affected by power outages dropped from 1.8 million the previous day to fewer than 200,000 this afternoon. Currently, power outages in New England, including Maine, are the largest at 80,000 households.
In Tampa, Florida, the temperature dropped below freezing for the first time in five years, and in South Florida, including West Palm Beach, the temperature dropped to 6 degrees, followed by reports that paralyzed iguanas from the cold they fell from the trees.
