Felt up to -48°C. The severe winter storm, accompanied by freezing temperatures, which hit the United States since Wednesday evening continued to hit parts of the country on Saturday. It has claimed the lives of at least 26 people, caused thousands of power outages and canceled hundreds of flights.
The US National Weather Service (NWS) has warned that the cold poses a deadly risk and has urged Americans in affected areas to stay indoors. Due to the wind, the temperature dropped to -48°C on Friday, according to the same source.
“The storm is expected to last through the weekend before temperatures return to seasonal norms by mid-next week,” the NWS said. Until then, “if you must travel or be outdoors, prepare for extreme cold by wearing several layers of clothing and covering as much skin as possible,” the weather service urged as much as possible. “In some places, being outdoors could cause frostbite within minutes. »
1500 flights canceled this Sunday
The 26 victims officially registered at this stage by the authorities were not all victims of the cold directly, some died on the roads, which had become very dangerous. That’s the case in Ohio, where four people died in storm-related incidents, Gov. Mike DeWine said. A total of nine states reported fatalities related to this exceptional winter storm.
In hard-hit New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul has deployed the National Guard to Erie County and Buffalo, the state’s main city, where officials said emergency services are nearly paralyzed. The situation is particularly striking in Buffalo, located on the border with Canada.
A couple from the lakeside city said the roads were impassable and they wouldn’t make the ten-minute drive needed to visit family at Christmas. And when the journey has to be made by plane, there is total blockage again.
Air traffic is gradually improving with nearly 1,500 flights canceled on Sunday, up from more than 3,400 the day before, according to tracking site Flightaware.com. “The most extreme disruptions are behind us,” US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter on Saturday.
Words that travelers stranded in airports like Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York clung to hoping for a Christmas miracle.
Voltage on the mains
Almost everywhere in American cities, such as Denver or Chicago, shelters have been opened to welcome people in need to allow them to warm up and protect them from the risk of hypothermia. Due to the very low temperatures, the pressure on the electricity grid was extremely high.
The operator in ten states of the American Northeast, PJM, urged the population to reduce consumption throughout the day on Saturday, to avoid cuts. Some cities, particularly in North Carolina, have had to temporarily shut down power due to high electricity demand, which has left homes without heat, while temperatures are still extremely cold.
In total, more than 200,000 homes were without power Sunday morning on the East Coast, according to Poweroutage.us, particularly in Maine and New York state.
On the Canadian side, the same transport mess
Canada is also affected by the storm. Authorities have also issued a severe weather warning. 200,000 people are also without electricity, particularly in Ontario and Quebec.
VIA Rail, Canada’s rail transit service, said all trains from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal will be suspended on Dec. 25 following a train derailment, while “extreme weather” has led to several more cancellations.
