For many Americans, Christmas weekend was turned upside down by a severe winter storm with extreme temperatures that caused massive power outages and has already killed more than a dozen people.
• Also read: [EN IMAGES] Check out the storm damage across Quebec
• Also read: Much of Quebec is still on storm alert
• Also read: Hundreds of thousands of Quebecers still without power
About a million homes were without power as of Saturday noon, particularly in North Carolina and Maine, where temperatures have been largely negative, according to website Poweroutage.us.
This storm of rare intensity has been battering the central and eastern United States since Wednesday evening, and its polar winds have also brought heavy snowfall, particularly in the Great Lakes region.
Transportation was severely disrupted just as tens of millions of Americans wanted to travel to meet their families for the holiday season.
More than 5,500 flights were canceled on Friday. US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg tweeted what made up 20% of air travel that day.
According to specialist website flightaware, more than 2,300 flights were again canceled on Saturday, particularly at Detroit and Minneapolis airports. But according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), “the worst of the disruptions are behind us and businesses and airports will gradually recover,” Mr Buttigieg said.
Many travelers were therefore hoping for a Christmas miracle in the form of a last-minute seat on an airplane that would allow them to arrive in time for the celebrations.
Zack Cuyler, 35, will be forced to spend New Year’s Eve with friends in New York after his flight to Houston, where he was due to reunite with family, was canceled twice this week.
While he said he was “quite overwhelmed” by these postponements, he should still manage to join his loved ones in the middle of the day on Sunday, Christmas Day. “For which I’m grateful,” he told AFP.
“Hundreds” of people blocked
In many states, roads have become impassable or very dangerous, sometimes resulting in fatal accidents.
Four people have died in storm-related accidents in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said.
In total, authorities in eight states have confirmed at least 17 deaths.
“Emergency services are not available in the hardest-hit locations, including in the city of Buffalo,” New York state Erie County Manager Mark Poloncarz said during a news conference Saturday morning. Two people died from medical problems because they could not be saved, he said.
A travel ban had been issued in this region the day before. But hundreds of people were still stuck in their vehicles, “including people who tried to get out late last night,” Poloncarz said on Saturday.
The National Guard has been dispatched to rescue these people stranded in extremely dangerous conditions.
“Don’t leave your vehicle!” tweeted local weather services. “Tie a piece of clothing to your antenna or window to indicate that you need help,” they recommended.
Emergency shelters have been opened almost everywhere in American cities like Denver or Chicago to take in people in need, warm them up and protect them from hypothermia.
The pressure on the power grid was also extremely high due to the very low temperatures. The operator in ten states in the Northeast of the United States, PJM, called on the population to reduce their consumption throughout the day on Saturday to avoid cuts.
frostbite
The storm is expected to continue throughout the weekend before temperatures return to seasonal norms by the middle of next week, the US National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Until then, “if you must travel or be outdoors, prepare for extreme cold by wearing layers of clothing and covering as much skin as possible,” he wrote Saturday. “In some places, frostbite can occur within minutes of being outside.”
The strong winds that are still forecast, with gusts of more than 95 km/h in some cases, entail the risk of further damage, such as trees falling on power lines.
Canada was also hit by the storm, where all provinces had weather warnings.
Hundreds of thousands of people were without power in Ontario and Quebec, and airports in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal were affected by flight cancellations.