last weekend, The United States experienced the coldest Christmas in decades due to winter storm Elliot, which caused temperatures of up to -48 ºC in some areas of the country. Even warm Florida reached temperatures of 6°C.
(Also read: The US is still on alert for Elliot, considered the ‘blizzard of the century’).
Although the authorities hope that the extreme cold will begin to diminish little by little, after the end of the storm, the harsh weather conditions continue to cause chaos in much of the territory: blackouts, more than 12,000 canceled flights and collapse in trains and buses are just some consequences of the harsh winter.
Heavy snowfalls shook the north of the country, but they spread from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, because there was a low atmospheric pressure system that caused the clash between “a very cold air mass from the Arctic and a tropical one that comes from the Gulf of Mexico,” meteorologists told AFP.
(Of interest: Bodies found under the snow: the balance of the winter storm in the US).
Consequently, more than a million people were left without electricity service, mainly in the states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maine, Tennessee, New York and Pennsylvania.
In addition, thousands of flights have been canceled since Friday, when the US authorities called on the population not to leave their homes due to freezing temperatures and snow accumulations.
In total, more than 12,000 flights were cancelled: 6,000 on Friday, 3,500 on Saturday, 3,000 on Sunday and another 1,000 on Monday, according to figures from ‘FlightAware’.
The strong weather conditions also caused the collapse in land transportation, as the accumulation of ice on the roads caused the closure of important routes in the country, such as Interstate 70, which crosses the US from east to west.
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However, After the passage of the storm, the passage was already restored on some roads. In New York, for example, this Tuesday some highways were reopened, yes, the governor warned to be careful. “We are leaving the storm behind, but it doesn’t mean we can let our guard down,” said Kathy Hochul.
Lost lives
Strong snow squalls, hurricane-force winds and freezing temperatures killed more than 50 peoplemost of them due to traffic accidents and in the city of Buffalo, where 28 deaths were recorded.
There, emergency personnel found dead people in vehicles, in houses and under snowbanks. Now, despite the inclement weather, they search from car to car for survivors.
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In Pennsylvania, of the 27 people who died, 14 were found outdoors and three were discovered in a car.
There is also death information for Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas and Colorado.
Is the worst over?
Despite the chaos at US airports persisting, the National Weather Service (NWS) expects temperatures to moderate in the coming days, although they warn that “locally hazardous travel conditions” would persist.
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In fact, this Tuesday, in the east and south of the country there was a slight increase in temperatures as the storm abatedHowever, the NWS reported that another cold front made its way to the West Coast with snow and rain.
This Wednesday the weather is expected to be a little warmer, above freezing, but the Meteorologists warn that this condition could cause floodingfor which the authorities remain on alert, records ‘USA Today’.
ELTIEMPO.COM
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