Snowstorm causes dangerous road conditions - delays at Washington airport, USA (Reuters)
Millions of people in the United States remained in their homes under a severe warning also yesterday (Sunday) against the background of the deadly winter storm, in which 46 people have been killed so far.
Disruptions continued in transportation throughout the country and the difficult travel conditions were defined as "life-threatening."
"The life-threateningly low temperatures combined with strong icy winds will create a life-threatening situation for those on the road, farmers and those who work outside the home," the National Weather Service alert said.
The storm stretches from the Mexican border in the south to the Great Lakes near Canada.
According to NBC News, as of last night, 46 people were killed in 12 states: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
A car under heavy snow (Photo: Reuters)
Frozen lake (Photo: Reuters)
twitter twitter
More than 3,000 domestic and international flights were canceled as of Sunday afternoon, and more than 11,000 flights were delayed, according to the FlightAward website.
The storm proved particularly devastating in Buffalo, New York, where 16 people were killed.
"This storm will be remembered as the most devastating in Buffalo, which has a long history of powerful storms," Gov. Kathy Hokul said yesterday.
"We know there are people who have been stuck in their cars for more than two days," said Mark Polonkretz of Erie County.
"There are people in houses in freezing temperatures. Some of the victims, whose ages range from 26 to 93, were found inside the cars and some were frozen in the streets," he added.
Several major cities in the Southwest, Midwest and East Coast even witnessed the coldest Christmas in decades.
In Florida, Sunday, December 25, was the coldest in Miami, Tampa, Orlando and West Palm Beach since 1983. New York also experienced its lowest Christmas Eve temperature, which was the second coldest in at least 150 years.
Everything is frozen (Photo: GettyImages)
twitter twitter
The storm in Michigan (photo: surfers' photos, Dikla Timur)
Freezing winds, heavy rain and extreme cold caused power outages from Maine to Seattle, and hundreds of thousands of households and businesses were left without power and heating.
As of yesterday, more than 60,000 customers were without electricity across the country.
The national chain, which serves customers in New York and Massachusetts, has asked its branches in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island to reduce their use of natural gas.
One reason for the large amount of snow is climate change, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, "As the globe warms, more water evaporates into the atmosphere, which adds moisture, meaning more precipitation in the form of snow or heavy rain. During the warmer months, this can cause record flooding, but In winter - when our part of the globe moves away from the sun - the temperature drops and instead of rain, we get massive winter storms," according to the foundation.
However, according to the National Weather Service, conditions are expected to "gradually improve as the system weakens," and temperatures are expected to warm later this week.
news
world news
America
Tags
storm
a storm
United States
snow
cyclone
Canada