The winter storm Elliot has historically hit much of the U.S. territory causing the death of at least 22 people in several states, in the middle of Christmasin addition to leaving without electricity more than 315 thousand homes and businesses across the country, according to CNN.
In its passage through the north and center of the territory, Elliot has left heavy snowfalls and dangerously low temperatures. The storm has left snowfall and heavy blizzards from the Great Lakes area near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico, with at least 200 million people (60% of the population), received some kind of weather warning for the drop in temperatures, which fell drastically from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Appalachiansaccording to the National Weather Service (NWS).
“A fast-moving storm is forecast to dip southward across the nation’s windy centeraccumulating snow and a wintry mix for the plains and lower Mississippi Valley,” the NWS said.
According to the Los Angeles Times, many of the winter storm’s fatalities died trapped in their vehicles during the snowstorm. The tracking site FlightAware reported that 2,360 domestic and international flights were canceled on Saturday. This affected the celebration of Christmas Eve in much of the country.
A storm of catastrophic dimensions
For this season, the American Union usually expects an arctic front. But this Friday it turned into a “cyclonic bomb”. The phenomenon developed near the Great Lakes, causing blizzard conditions, including strong winds and snow.
The storm hit Buffalo, in northern New York, with full forcewith hurricane-force winds and snow that caused a snowfall of such intensity that even prevented emergency services from reacting. The governor of the entity, Kathy Hochul, confirmed that almost all of the city’s fire trucks were stranded and the airport will remain closed until Monday.
The frost and lack of electricity forced Buffalo residents to seek shelter wherever there was heat. “You can’t be outside for more than 10 minutes without freezing,” explained city residents.
Central Park recorded a temperature of 15 F, to become the second coldest December 24 in at least 150 yearsaccording to the National Weather Service.
In some 13 eastern states, electric utilities asked customers to save energy and turn down thermostats more than usual because the increased consumption was affecting supply.
The storm also knocked out power in communities from Maine to Seattleand one of the major grid operators warned 65 million people across the eastern region that the storm was affecting the power supply.
