A massive winter storm has killed at least seven people and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands as it continues to batter the central and eastern United States with heavy snow, freezing rain and brutally cold temperatures. An increasing number of fatalities now includes three people in Tennessee, two in Louisiana and one each in Texas and Kansas, according to local officials still calculating the full damage. About 185 million Americans are under winter weather alerts as a remarkable stretch of unusual conditions blankets much of the country, meteorologists say.
The sheer reach of the storm has caused communities in several states to be overwhelmed: Some are dealing with wind chills that have fallen into the minus 20s and minus 30s. Real temperatures, meanwhile, will be 10 to 40 degrees colder than normal seasonal averages, a set of conditions that is also not just unpleasant but dangerous enough for anyone outside for an extended period. The cold is made worse by heavy precipitation that in some areas was falling as snow, sleet and freezing rain, making even short journeys perilous and turning roads into virtual skating rinks throughout the region, where normal life has come to a halt for millions.
Outages Leave Hundreds of Thousands in the Cold
More than 860,000 customers throughout the impacted region are without power and the storm continues to inflict damage on the electrical infrastructure. The ingredients are there: heavy ice, strong winds and falling tree limbs, a perfect storm for power outages. The outages are especially dangerous because of the extreme cold, leaving some of the most vulnerable people without heat during some of the coldest weather the state has seen in years. Emergency management officials are scrambling to set up warming stations that are accessible to people without power and ensure that they have at least enough safe shelter.
And the freezing rain, with an especially fierce display across a wide stretch extending from Georgia through the Carolinas and into the mid-Atlantic. This precipitation also produces a layer of ice on everything in its path, turning roads into sheets of ice and snapping trees and power lines. Elsewhere, heavy snow has trapped communities across the Ohio Valley and Northeast under a thick layer of white in some areas with parts of Ohio having already experienced almost 17 inches of the powder with more blanketing down.
New England Is Bracing for the Worst of the Storm
Now weather forecasters are warning that the most enduring and heaviest snow is yet to come for much of New England, where the wind-whipped storm was projected to keep dropping snow into tomorrow night. Boston and Albany, New York may receive astonishing amounts of 16 to 24 inches before the system moves out of the area. Hartford, Conn., and Portland, Maine are expecting at least one to two feet of snow, amounts that would make travel nearly impossible and create dangerous conditions that could linger for days even after the precipitation stops.
Transportation effects of the storm have been devastating, as airlines have had to cancel over 12,000 flights for today and then an additional 3,000-plus flights for tomorrow already. The mass cancellations left thousands of travellers stranded in airports throughout the affected region, generating chaotic scenes as people looked for alternate ways to get to their destination or just rode out the storm. In many areas, roads are all but impassable and authorities are calling on people to stay home unless travel is necessary.
Slow Recovery To Ensue But No Respite Yet For Several More Days
And while meteorologists say that conditions will improve gradually over the week ahead, relief is likely to come slowly and unevenly across a vast expanse of the country. Skiing, snowmobiling and other snowy sports will be easy once the storm blows through; we’re far enough north, at least there’s that, for snow and winter cold to continue well after this event has passed, with temperatures below freezing and dangerous wind chills enduring several more days. Emergency officials are still encouraging residents to work with them in the effort by checking on vulnerable neighbours, avoiding travel that isn’t necessary and taking measures against frostbite and hypothermia. The full scope of the storm’s devastation and final death toll may not be known for days as isolated communities communicate with authorities, and rescue workers assess efforts across the worst affected areas.
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