Jieun Park and Heera Pyo, visiting Washington from South Korea, build a snowman as snow falls near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2024. Portal/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades
Relentless storms whip USA this week and have caused at least 50 deaths In connection with the climate, authorities and local media reported this Friday as large parts of the country prepare for it new winter attacks.
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Frosty temperatures, snowfall and thick ice ensured this fatal accidents in road trafficdisrupted air traffic, closed schools and cut off power to thousands of people.
Additionally, millions of Americans are now under strain Weather warnings.
Aerial view of snow-covered downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, on January 18, 2024, in this image from a social media video. Isaac Rowlett Media/via Portal
In the state of Tennesseeconfirmed the Ministry of Health 14 deaths related to meteorological conditions and in Pennsylvania, Five women died on Tuesday According to police, there was an accident involving a tractor-trailer on a highway.
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The Governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshearreported in a statement on Friday five deaths depends on the weather conditions in your state.
And in Oregon, Three people died from electrocution According to the Chicago Fire Department, a power line fell on his stopped car during an ice storm on Wednesday. Portland.
People walk through Times Square as snow falls during a winter storm in New York, USA, January 19, 2024. Portal/Brendan McDermid
Winter was gone 75,000 customers in Oregon without power by Friday evening, according to the tracking website Poweroutage.us. The state government also stated this Emergency.
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You have also registered Deaths in the states of Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin and Washingtonwhere five people are believed to have died as a result of exposure, local media reported, citing officials Seattle.
Several areas of the country were hit by snowstorms, including the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains and parts of New England, particularly western New York, where forecasters said heavy snowstorms occurred 1.9 meters of snow nearly buffalo over a five-day period this week.
A fan sits in the snow during a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports/File
The cold temperatures have also spread to the southern United States, a region unaccustomed to this type of winter weather.
Some parts of the country are preparing for this more severe temperatures this weekend.
“Another Arctic blast will bring frigid temperatures and dangerous wind chills across the plains and Mississippi Valley of the eastern United States,” the National Weather Service said Friday in its latest warning.
Air traffic also suffered major setbacks on Friday, with more than 1,100 domestic flights canceled and another 8,000 were delayed, according to the web portal Flightaware.com.
In the middle of extremely low temperatures which have hit much of the United States in recent days, owners of Teslahave reported serious difficulties loading their files electric vehicles. The Charging stations Accumulations of immobile cars have appeared in the area, which residents “Tesla graveyards“. The impact on the autonomy of the Batteries for electric vehicles According to a, reaches 50% at temperatures of -23° Celsius Geotab study quoted by the British newspaper Chron.
Specifically, problems were reported in a Charging station located in The Evergreen Marketplace at 9200 S. Western Ave. in Evergreen parkwhere the Automobiles They were stranded due to their exhaustion Batteries as a result of sub-zero temperatures.
Last Sunday, long lines formed at charging stations and several owners tried in vain to charge their cars. As the news channel Fox 32 reports, some of those affected even had problems opening the doors of their Tesla due to the low temperatures. NBC Chicago also reported long waits and difficulty loading vehicles in Evergreen Park, another Chicago suburb.
Tesla drivers in Chicago are struggling with the effects of cold weather on their batteries. (Nam Y Huh/AP)
The situation was particularly challenging in the early hours of Monday morning when there were more drivers on the road Tesla They discovered that the Charging stations were not working properly and the ones that were working were taking much longer to charge the batteries. Batteries. One of them, Brandon Welbournesaid in an interview with ABC News that it was him You'll have to wait more than five hours for your vehicle to charge, a task that normally takes 45 minutes and which was extended to two hours under these extreme conditions.
“I saw at least ten cars being towed because their batteries were dead. “It's too cold, it takes too much energy to keep the car at a reasonable temperature, so they take away all of them and we have no place to charge,” he said. Welbourne in the middle.
According to reports from CBS News, the range of Batteries of vehicles The number of people affected was reduced by half and loading times increased significantly, making the situation even more difficult. Tesla recognized it through his Online help This increased energy consumption is a normal result in these freezing temperatures, as more energy is required for both heating and heating battery like the inside of the car.
Given these events, some users are questioning the viability of the electric cars in such adverse climates and have called for measures to eliminate this inconvenience. As a preventative measure, the company has Elon Musk recommends on its website that charging the electric cars over 20% and that they stay connected at all times. It also recommends using “Preconditioning” to prepare the battery for more efficient charging.
(With information from AFP)