At least a dozen people died in four regions of the United States as a result of the dangerous and life-threatening conditions that have been registered for several days now by the winter storm Elliot, which aims to become the worst the country has faced. northern for the past 40 years.
According to the EFE agency, several car accidents related to weather conditions have caused up to ten deaths in Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and Kentucky, where the death of a homeless person is also reported in Louisville.
Hitting the road during winter weather? Here’s what to know before you go! pic.twitter.com/Gp57q489EA
—National Weather Service (@NWS) December 23, 2022
According to the national meteorological service, the National Weather Service (NWS), some 200 million people – 60% of the population – are in areas where severe winter storms are occurring or will occur, which began in the middle west of the country and then spread to the east, both north and south.
This great storm has been defined by the NWS as “once in a generation.” On its website, the national weather service warned about the extraordinary of it, especially when it reaches the Great Lakes region, where its pressure is expected to reach the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane.
“Cold winds of this magnitude can cause frostbite in less than five minutes if precautions are not taken, and hypothermia and death are also possible from prolonged exposure to cold,” the NWS reported.
These incidents have caused considerable damage. More than 1.4 million Americans were without power, according to the website PowerOutage.us, which monitors the electrical grid. North Carolina residents are hardest hit by the power outages, followed by those in Virginia, Maine, Tennessee, New York and Pennsylvania.
In another order, around 4,500 flights were canceled this Friday, according to the FlightAware portal. The suspensions have left tens of thousands of passengers stranded or struggling to find alternatives as they rush home for the holidays, reported Bernd Debusmann, the BBC’s Washington correspondent.
Three regional airports and Michigan International are closed, and several have halted takeoff operations, according to data from the Aviation Administration (FAA) website. In general terms, thousands of people have suffered the cancellation of their flights this Friday on the eve of the Christmas festivities.
Transportation problems also affect trains and bus companies such as Greyhound, the largest of which has already warned that many routes in the Northeast or Midwest may be canceled or altered.
The cold snap began in the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday and then turned east, producing a “bomb cyclonic” on Friday. reviewed the BBC. The outlet itself assured that the arctic explosion could cause “the coldest Christmas in the Midwest since the late 1980s,” as well as the coldest temperatures in 30 years in the southern state of Florida.
In the United States, alerts extend from coast to coast and reach as far south as the border with Mexico. President Joe Biden appeared publicly on Thursday to warn Americans to take the storm “extremely seriously” and to follow the recommendations of the authorities.
