Up to -48°C felt.
The very violent winter storm, accompanied by freezing temperatures, which has affected the United States since Wednesday evening continued to hit certain parts of the country on Saturday.
It caused the death of at least 17 people, caused thousands of power cuts and the cancellation of thousands of flights.
The US National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the cold posed a deadly risk and urged Americans in affected areas to stay indoors.
Due to the wind, the temperature felt down 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 the middle of 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," urged the weather service as much as possible.
“In places, being outside could cause frostbite within minutes.
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At least 17 people dead
The 17 victims officially recorded at this stage by the authorities have not all been victims of the cold directly, some of them have died on the roads, which have become very dangerous.
Such is the case in Ohio, where four people have died in storm-related crashes, Gov. Mike DeWine said.
A total of eight states have reported deaths related to this exceptional winter storm.
In hard-hit New York, Governor Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard to Erie County and Buffalo, the state's main city, where authorities said emergency services are nearing paralyzed.
The situation is particularly impressive in Buffalo, located on the border with Canada.
Read alsoWinter storm in the United States: "It's already cold, but Saturday it will be unbearable"
A couple from the lakeside town said the roads were impassable and they would not make the ten-minute journey needed to visit family over Christmas.
And when the journey must be made by plane, there again, total blockage.
More than 3,300 flights were canceled on Saturday and more than 7,500 delayed.
The previous day, nearly 6,000 flights had been canceled, according to tracking site Flightaware.com.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter on Saturday that "the most extreme disruptions are behind us, with airlines and airports gradually resuming operations", despite the cancellation of "more than 20% of flights" on Friday.
Severe weather across the country led to more than 20% of flights being canceled yesterday.
Impacts continue today but FAA expects that the most extreme disruptions are behind us as airline and airport operations gradually recover.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) December 24, 2022
Words that travelers stranded in airports such as Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York clung to, hoping for a Christmas miracle.
Voltage on the electrical network
A bit everywhere in American cities, such as Denver or Chicago, shelters have been opened to accommodate 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 power grid was extremely high.
The operator in a dozen states in the American Northeast, PJM, called on the population to reduce their consumption all day Saturday, in order to avoid cuts.
Some cities, notably in North Carolina, had to temporarily cut power due to high electricity demand, which left homes without heat, while temperatures are still extremely low.
420k electric customers remain without power across the eastern USA from the large winter storm.
[2022-12-24 06:27:58 PM EST] https://t.co/8cAFt3zGJe #poweroutage pic.twitter.com/lnosxTwc3j
— PowerOutage.us (@PowerOutage_us) December 24, 2022
About 530,000 homes were still without power on Saturday evening (against up to 1.5 million the day before), according to the Poweroutage.us site, particularly in North Carolina and Maine, where temperatures were largely negative.
On the night of Saturday to Sunday, this figure rose to 200,000 homes.
On the Canadian side, the same mess in transport
Canada is also affected by the storm.
Authorities have also issued severe weather warnings.
Hundreds of thousands of people were without power in Ontario and Quebec, while many flights were canceled at airports in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
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Due to the derailment of a CN train earlier today, VIA Rail is forced to cancel all trains between Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto and Montreal scheduled for December 25th.
— VIA Rail Canada (@VIA_Rail) December 24, 2022
VIA Rail, Canada's rail transport service, said all trains from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal would be suspended on December 25 following a train derailment, while "extreme weather conditions" led to many more cancellations.