Cold emergency declared, millions without electricity
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USA shiver at temperatures as low as minus 38 degrees
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The snowed in Woodlands Parkway in Texas.
Foto: AP/Brett Coomer
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Austin An arctic cold front has large parts of the USA under control. In Kansas minus 34 degrees were measured, in Minnesota even minus 38. In many places, the disaster was declared. In Texas, millions are without electricity.
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A cold snap resulted in an unusual ice emergency in the US state of Texas on Monday. The power supply failed for more than two million people. Coronavirus vaccine deliveries stalled. 3,000 flights were canceled, 1,600 of them at Dallas / Fort Worth and Bush Intercontinental airports in Houston.
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Both airports were closed on Monday until at least Tuesday afternoon (local time). The largest refinery in the United States in Port Arthur also shut down because of the cold. Temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius were measured in Dallas / Fort Worth. That was three degrees less than in Moscow.
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An arctic cold front has large parts of the USA under control. The governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, declared a disaster at temperatures of minus 34 degrees Celsius. Likewise, Governor Greg Abbott for all of Texas. US President Joe Biden paved the way for additional federal aid by declaring an emergency for Texas on Sunday evening. In addition, National Guard units were activated in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas to help broken down motorists.
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In Minnesota, a cold record was measured in Hibbings / Chisholm with minus 38 degrees, in Sioux Falls / South Dakota the thermometer dropped to minus 26 degrees.
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Most offices and schools were closed on Presidents Day, a holiday honoring all US presidents. However, numerous traffic accidents were reported, 75 in Louisiana alone that were attributed to weather conditions. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear warned of unnecessary drives: “It’s slippery and dangerous.”
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The cold spell hit the US over a long weekend with most air travelers since the turn of the year. More than a million people passed airport security checks on Thursday and Friday. That was still less than half the number from a year ago, before the corona pandemic spread in the United States.
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