Three people died in traffic accidents caused by a severe winter storm in the US state of Kansas. The cause was snow and icy roads, the police said according to a report in the newspaper “USA Today”.. In view of the freezing temperatures, the condition of the roads in many places is still very bad.
US Weather Service: Temperature could drop 20 degrees in half an hour
The weather service had previously warned of a “historic” winter storm. The storm low will bring extreme cold, heavy snowfall and ice wind. Up to minus 50 degrees are mainly expected in the north and central west of the country. In some places, according to the weather service, the temperatures fell by a good 20 degrees within half an hour. Sometimes it gets so cold that there is a risk of frostbite within minutes, the authorities warned.
Biden: “It’s not just a snowy day”
Values of around minus 45 degrees Celsius have already been measured in the states of Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming. “This is not like a childhood snow day,” warned President Joe Biden.
US media, citing weather experts, also warned of the possible emergence of a special and severe storm, a so-called “bomb cyclone”. In Germany, on the other hand, rather mild and rainy weather is expected at Christmas.
Travel chaos feared
This is likely to be difficult for many people who want to travel to their families over Christmas. According to media reports, thousands of flights were canceled on Thursday and Friday. The airports in Chicago and Detroit are among the most important hubs in the country, and severe snowstorms are expected there. Strong winds, rain and ice could also affect freeways and airports in the east coast metropolises of Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
The southern United States was also affected
Sometimes it gets so cold that there is a risk of frostbite within minutes, the authorities warned. There is a weather warning of some kind for around 180 million people. The north and midwest of the country are particularly affected, but also the south of the USA. An extreme frost warning has been issued for the states of Louisiana, parts of Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.
The governor of Louisiana urged residents of his state to prepare for Arctic temperatures. “Please take care of your friends, neighbors or family members,” the governor’s official website said. In some parts of Louisiana, which usually has a more subtropical climate, “life-threatening” temperatures of up to minus 15 degrees with strong winds are expected.
How dangerous cold snaps of this kind can be in the USA was shown in February 2021 in the state of Texas in the south of the USA. At that time, the power grid collapsed due to the sudden cold, gas pipelines froze and power plants had to be shut down. Millions of people were left without electricity in the freezing cold, sometimes for days, and many died. dpa/hd/vz