A brutal winter storm brought Christmas Day danger and misery to millions of Americans Sunday as intense snow and frigid cold gripped parts of the eastern United States, with weather-related deaths rising to at least 34. Here are 10 things to know.
- At least 34 people have died in the United States from the winter storm, which has caused tens of thousands of homes and businesses to lose power and forced millions of others to huddle down against a bitter cold on Christmas to weather the storm. More fatalities are feared.
- In western New York's Buffalo, a blizzard had cut off the city and prevented emergency personnel from getting to high-impact neighbourhoods. Eight-foot snow drifts and power outages have created dangerous circumstances in Buffalo. In the notoriously-snowy Buffalo region, officials recounted unusually hazardous conditions, including hours-long whiteouts and bodies found in cars and behind snow banks as rescuers tried to find the people who needed help.
- The worst winter storm to hit the greater Buffalo area since a devastating blizzard in 1977, which went on for four days and claimed nearly 30 lives, was described by New York Governor Kathy Hochul as "epic, once-in-a-lifetime".
- On Christmas morning, more than 200,000 people in various eastern states awoke without electricity, and many more had their travel plans for the holiday disrupted, even though the five-day storm that brought blizzard conditions and fierce winds was beginning to abate.
- The weekend's severe weather detained holiday visitors with thousands of flights cancelled and entrapped homeowners in ice and snow-covered houses. Wind chill readings in all 48 contiguous US states fell below freezing.
- Thousands of houses, some decorated for the holidays without lights, were visible in the daylight, as were cars that were almost completely buried beneath 6-foot snowdrifts. Forecasters warned that an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow was predicted in some regions through early December 26 morning amid wind gusts of 40 mph as snow was tumbling down untouched and impassable streets.
- Driving is still prohibited across all of Erie County, where the lakeside city is situated, and Buffalo Niagara International Airport is still blocked until December 27. Some people were not anticipated to get electricity back until December 27 due to frozen electric substations; one frozen substation was reportedly buried under 18 feet of snow.
- In order to lessen rolling blackouts in places like North Carolina and Tennessee, numerous power companies are advising millions of customers to limit usage due to the extreme weather's strain on the nation's electricity networks. Nearly 1.7 million consumers were without energy in the freezing weather on December 24 at one time.
- After PJM Interconnection said its utilities could handle the day's peak electrical demand, worries of rolling blackouts across eastern states decreased on December 25. The mid-Atlantic grid operator had urged its 65 million customers to use less electricity due to the cold.
- In addition to 3,500 flights annulled on December 24 and over 6,000 on December 23, the storm, one of the worst in decades, forced the cancellation of over 2,400 US flights on Christmas. Along with Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, and New York, travellers were stuck or delayed at airports on Christmas Day.
(With agency inputs)
Catch all the
Business News,
Market News,
Breaking News Events and
Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The
Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Premium