A massive winter storm has left at least 28 people dead and about 380,000 homes and businesses without power across the US, where more than 8,000 flights have been canceled since Friday due to the Arctic blast.
The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that the storm was almost unprecedented in its scope, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande River along the border with Mexico.
Weathermen said that temperatures had nosedived drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, in the aftermath of the so-called bomb cyclone. According to them, this natural phenomenon developed near the Great Lakes, causing blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow.
The NWS also said that “the life-threatening cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills will create a potentially life-threatening hazard for travelers that become stranded.”
Bad weather-related deaths have been registered in a wide number of US states, including Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin.
In Erie County, which includes Buffalo, blizzard conditions are expected to continue through at least Sunday morning, County Executive Mark Poloncarz told reporters Saturday. The winter storm could continue for at least the next 36 hours, with the blizzard warning in effect until 7 a.m. Christmas morning, Poloncarz said.
“This is still a life-threatening situation,” he said. “This is nothing to be trifled with.”
The county’s Deputy Commissioner of Disaster Preparedness and Homeland Security, Gregory Butcher, said the storm will be significant “for days to come.”
Source: Sputnik and AFP
