The state of New York declared a state of emergency this Friday, before the passage of the icy storm that affects a large part of the country and that the National Weather Service (NWS) has classified as “once in a generation”.
New York has already begun to feel the effects of this storm, with flooding in coastal areas requiring some New Yorkers to be rescued and more than 100,000 homes without power in the state.
“We’ve had ice, floods, snow, sub-zero temperatures, and everything else Mother Nature might hit us with this weekend.” holiday in which Christmas is celebrated, said Governor Kathy Hochul, who assured that it is a dangerous situation for the entire state.
He urged residents not to travel until road conditions are safe.
“I know there is a strong desire to be with your loved ones right now, but the lives of your loved ones and yourselves come first.”he claimed.
He explained that following the rain (with the low temperature) there is not enough time, before the ice forms, for snowplows and equipment to put salt on the roads. “That creates incredibly dangerous conditions,” she said, warning that “the roads are going to be like an ice skating rink,” particularly for areas in the north of the state.
The great freezing storm that is affecting much of the United States has left millions of people without electricity already thousands without being able to travel by plane on the eve of Christmas.
More than 1.4 million Americans are currently without power in the country, according to the PowerOutage.us website, which monitors the electrical network, while flight cancellations already exceed 4,500 this Friday, FlightAware collects.
Some 200 million people, 60% of the country’s population, are in areas where severe winter storms are occurring or will occur, according to the national weather service, the National Weather Service (NWS).
