The number of victims of the cold wave in the USA continues to rise. US media reported on Sunday that significantly more than 30 people were killed by the winter storm. The NBC broadcaster, citing its own count, even reported 41 fatalities, the ABC broadcaster at least 39. Rescue workers and officials expected the number of victims to continue to rise.
Lines must be kept free
Winter storm Elliott has thrown the Christmas celebrations in the US upside down. At least three people were killed in Erie County, New York on Saturday. For two of them, the emergency services did not arrive in time because of the heavy snowfall, the New York Times said.
Erie County’s emergency services were at times overwhelmed. Marc Poloncarz, the person responsible for the district, called for the emergency call to be called only in the most critical, life-threatening cases in order to keep the lines free. On Saturday, rescue workers helped with the birth of a child over the phone, wrote the New York Times. At nightfall, people were still being rescued from their cars on Christmas Eve, it said. Some of them had been trapped there since Friday.
Measures should ensure energy supply
According to the PowerOutage website, more than 170,000 households were without power as of early Sunday morning. In New York, electric utilities called on people to save energy. Heaters should be turned on as little as possible, appliances such as dishwashers or tumble dryers should not be used if possible.
The center of the storm has now shifted north and is now over eastern Canada. The region around the Great Lakes in the north-east of the USA remains badly affected, the US weather service said on Twitter. Heavy snowfall is also to be expected there on Sunday, which in combination with strong gusts of wind might lead to snowstorm-like conditions locally.
Minus 33,9 Grad in North Dakota
The coldest temperature was measured on Sunday night at minus 33.9 degrees Celsius in the state of North Dakota west of the Great Lakes. Travelers were once once more called upon to exercise extreme caution and were warned of so-called “whiteout conditions”, i.e. severely restricted visibility and a lack of orientation due to the snow.
The winter storm has kept the USA in suspense since the day before Christmas. More than 200 million people had received severe weather warnings. Initially, the north and central west of the country were particularly affected. But there were also warnings of extreme frost in states in the south of the country. Several states, including New York, have declared a state of emergency.
