Massive winter storm brings rolling blackouts, power outages and travel chaos

Tens of millions of Americans have endured bone-chilling temperatures, blizzard conditions, power outages, and holiday gatherings canceled or warned in the aftermath of Friday’s winter storm.

More than 200 million people had received advisories or warnings on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. The Bureau of Meteorology’s map “represents one of the largest winter weather warnings and advisories ever made,” the forecaster said.

About 1.4 million homes and businesses are in the dark due to power outages, according to PowerOutage, a website that tracks utility reports. The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest utility, ended rolling blackouts on Friday afternoon, but continued to urge homes and businesses to save electricity.

More than 4,600 flights to and from the United States were canceled on Friday, according to tracking site FlightAware, adding further disruption as travelers tried to return home for the holidays.

“We just have to stay positive,” said Wendell Davis, who played basketball for the French team and waited in O’Hare in Chicago on Friday after a string of flight cancellations.

Freezing rain closed the runways at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Friday morning, contributing to the cancellation of flights across the Alaska Air System, including many flights to and from Alaska.

[High winds and blowing snow hammer Southcentral as Sea-Tac delays snarl holiday travel]

A huge storm spread from border to border. In Canada, WestJet canceled all flights from 9 a.m. Friday at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as the country’s meteorologists warned of the possibility of her one-degree weather event in his decade. .

And in Mexico, immigrants are staying unusually cold near the U.S. border while awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision on whether and when to lift pandemic-era restrictions that have prevented many from seeking asylum. I was waiting at

Weather forecasters say a bomb cyclone, a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure during a storm, has formed near the Great Lakes, causing blizzard conditions such as high winds and snow.

Several highways were closed and at least five people were killed in crashes, officials said. At least one person has died in a large pile involving at least 50 vehicles on an Ohio turnpike. A Kansas City, Missouri, driver skidded into a creek and his three others died in another crash on icy roads in northern Kansas on Wednesday.

Michigan has also faced a large number of crashes, including one involving nine semi-trailers.

Brent Whitehead said it took him 7.5 hours to drive from his home near Minneapolis to his parents’ house in the Chicago suburbs on Thursday, instead of the usual six hours.

“I’m glad I had snow tires on my car,” he said.

Activists also rushed to save homeless people from the cold. I was keeping warm.

“This is a lot of extra manpower,” said Faith Fowler, executive director of Cass Community Social Services, which runs both facilities, but no one could refuse.

In Chicago, Andy Robredo planned to spend the day organizing an effort to check on the homeless through his nonprofit, Feeding People Through Plants. Robredo and volunteers build a tent modeled after an ice fishing tent, including a plywood subfloor.

“It’s not a house, it’s not an apartment, it’s not a hotel room. But it’s a big step up from what they had before,” Robledo said.

In Portland, Oregon, nearly 800 people slept in five emergency shelters Thursday night. A homeless support team has instigated to distribute cold weather survival gear.

DoorDash and Uber Eats have suspended delivery services in some states, and bus services have been disrupted in places like Seattle.

Jamie Sheehan’s Maryland bakery experienced a power outage on Friday for about 90 minutes, shutting down its convection oven and the mixer needed to make buttercream.

“Thankfully, all the orders that were out today were already finished yesterday,” she said shortly before power was restored.

At about the same time, Cory Newcombe and his family’s home in Phoenix, Virginia, a small town about 150 kilometers southwest of Richmond, had been out of power for six hours.

“We’re dealing with it. That’s it,” Newcombe said in a Facebook message, adding that he had family members with health issues that required him to keep the generator running.

South Dakota Governor Christy Noem said the National Guard is deploying to help haul lumber and clear snow to the Oglala and Rosebud Sioux tribes.

“We have family members who live far away and have not been in touch for two weeks,” said Wayne Boyd, President Rosebud Sue’s chief of staff.

Fearing some people were running out of food, the tribe hoped to check on those stranded by helicopter on Saturday. Boyd said a 12-year-old boy died after medical responders were unable to reach his home during a storm last week.

Meanwhile, the Oglala Sioux used snowmobiles to reach members who lived at the end of miles of dirt roads.

“It’s been a terrible fight so far,” said the tribe’s president, Frank Starr Comes Out.

The Weather Service predicts Philadelphia’s coldest Christmas in over 20 years.

Winds exceeded 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour) at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the tallest mountain in the Northeast.

In Boston, a combination of rain and storm surges pushed waves over the Long Wharf breakwater and flooded downtown streets. Things were so bad in Vermont that Amtrak canceled service for the day and non-essential state offices closed early.

“We hear from crew members that grown trees are being ripped from their roots,” Mari McClure, president of Green Mountain Power, the state’s largest utility, said at a news conference.

Calling it a “kitchen sink storm,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency. In parts of New York City, storm surge flooded roads, homes and businesses Friday morning.

In Iowa, sports broadcaster Mark Woodley became a Twitter sensation after being asked to broadcast live outside in the wind and snow as sporting events were cancelled. By noon on Friday, a compilation of his broadcasts had earned him nearly five million views on Twitter.

“I have good news and bad news,” he told the anchor. .”

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Breed was reported from Little Rock, Arkansas. Associated Press journalist Dee Ann Durbin of Detroit. Jillian Flaccus of Portland, Oregon. Zeke Miller of Washington. Emily Wagster-Pettas of Jackson, Mississippi contributed to this report.