Funviralpark At least 17 people were killed, more than 700,000 homes lost power and thousands of air passengers were stranded across the country on Saturday. A powerful winter storm has created a pre-Christmas nightmare.
A ‘bomb cyclone’ hit parts of the country as record-breaking cold spells swept through the United States, creating whiteouts in some areas and raging winds in others.
A “bomb cyclone” occurs when atmospheric pressure drops rapidly during a strong storm.
Pittsburgh, Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, DC were all expected to hit record lows on Christmas Eve.
Fargo, North Dakota was predicted to be the coldest place in the country at Christmas.
The death toll from the massive storm that stretched from the Great Lakes to the Mexican border included one in the Big Apple and three in northern Erie County. Monday.
“Speaking in Buffalo, something life-threatening is happening,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday, noting that nearly all of the city’s fire trucks were stuck in the snow.
In Ohio, a blizzard hit near Toledo, killing 4 drivers and injuring dozens as 50 cars collided. In neighboring Kentucky, he also had three confirmed weather-related deaths. He is homeless, two of whom died from car accidents and one from exposure.
An 82-year-old woman in Lansing, Michigan, died Friday morning after being found curled up in the snow outside her assisted living community, local police said.
Heavy snowfall has threatened flooding in several states, including North Dakota and Nevada.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies electricity to 10 million people in parts of seven states, announced Friday that it has provided more energy than ever before in its 89-year history.
Residents of the 13 states served by Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection have been asked to refrain from unnecessary electricity use due to potential rolling blackouts.
Airlines were hit hard Saturday with 2,800 U.S. flights canceled and another 6,600 delayed, according to flight tracking service FlightAware.
One man who got stuck at John F. Kennedy Airport on his way from Detroit to Istanbul on Saturday called it “the worst travel experience of my life.”
“We had no hotel accommodation, we just missed our next flight even though we arrived three hours early,” said 27-year-old Amal Hammoud.
A United Airlines flight to Newark landed late in the early hours of Christmas Eve, leaving passengers waiting on the runway for at least an hour as the plane’s overhead compartment began to leak.
At Kennedy Airport on Saturday, frustrated traveler, media and events worker Amy Searle, 37, was heading home to see her family in Senegal. I flew from New York to New York and ran for a connecting flight to Senegal, but sat on the plane for four hours before I knew it wouldn’t take off.
“Of course we were hungry and needed to eat…and someone passed out. Like literally,” she said.
After sleeping at the airport, she hoped to catch another flight on Saturday night. I miss being with you and the warmth of Christmas,” she said.
Photographers struggling to get from Detroit to Chicago tweeted his frustration.
“So @Delta literally delayed the flight by four hours just to cancel it. shared. “This is unacceptable…. And I’m not okay
Some have tried to make the most of it.
“Tomorrow’s flight out of Portland has been cancelled.” Rob Glover lamentedA political science professor at the University of Maine shares a photo of a plate of chili cheese fries. “So instead of being taken away to the Caribbean, we’re drowning our sorrows in cheese and gravy.”
There was no relief for those who managed to reach the South in the Florida cold. That is, the iguana was in danger of “freezing” and falling out of the tree.
In Texas, the Houston Human Society rescued 138 frozen bats from the War Street Bridge on Thursday.
“Having Christmas this cold is historic in some regions, especially in the South,” said Stephen MacLeod, a meteorologist at the Fox Forecast Center. “Don’t get cold so fast.”
He said the main storm system is slowly moving north in Canada and will continue to bring snow to the Great Lakes region through Tuesday.
Upstate New York, including Buffalo, was expected to see an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow cover, while Michigan could range from 3 to 8 inches.
with post wire
