Winter storm kills 13 in US
A fearsome winter storm that pummelled the United States with blinding snow and powerful Arctic winds left 1.7 million customers without power yesterday as thousands of cancelled flights stranded travellers making last-minute dashes for Christmas.
At least 13 storm-related deaths have been confirmed across six states as heavy snow, howling winds and dangerously frigid temperatures kept much of the nation, including the normally temperate south, in a frozen grip for a third straight day.
The "bomb cyclone" winter storm, one of the fiercest in decades, had already forced the cancellation of more than 1,900 US flights on Saturday, a day after nearly 6,000 were scrapped, according to tracking website Flightaware.com.
Cancellations left stranded travelers at airports including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York hoping for a pre-Christmas flight rebooking miracle.
Travellers like Zack Cuyler, whose flight to home to Houston on December 22 has been postponed then cancelled twice this week already, were "pretty steamed" about the chaos.
The 35-year-old, who lives in New York City, now hopes to reach his family by Christmas day.
"I'm just glad I'll get to see my family for Christmas," he told AFP.
In hard-hit New York state, Governor Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard to Erie County and its main city Buffalo, where authorities said emergency services have essentially collapsed in the face of extreme blizzard conditions.
"There are still likely hundreds of people still stuck in vehicles," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said early Saturday, adding that the National Guard was being sent "right into the city of Buffalo for these life-threatening rescues."
Road ice and white-out conditions also led to the closure of some of the nation's busiest transport routes, including the cross-country Interstate 70, parts of which were temporarily shut down in Colorado and Kansas.
Over 200 million Americans were under weather warnings Friday as wind chills sent temperatures plunging to as low as -55 Fahrenheit (-48 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Comments