More than 200 million people had received severe weather warnings. According to the US weather service, the region around the five Great Lakes in the north-east on the border with Canada is particularly affected. The states of Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming reported temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius. It was said that even a few minutes in the cold might lead to frostbite.
On the Pacific Northwest coast, freezing rain covered surfaces with a sheet of ice. Meteorologists warned of a “bomb cyclone” near the Canadian border. It occurs when the air pressure in a low-pressure area drops unusually quickly. The result is snow storms, so-called blizzards, in addition to sharply falling temperatures.
Some states, including New York, have declared a state of emergency. Governor Hochul appealed to the population: “Stay inside and take care of yourself this weekend.” According to the broadcaster NBC, the National Guard is deployed in the city of Erie County. The local emergency services reported an “unprecedented flood of emergency calls.” The head of Poloncarz
tweeted, the situation did not improve during the night. The conditions outside are still difficult.
According to the online portal “p
oweroutage.us” In the meantime, more than 1.6 million customers had been without electricity because of the winter storm.
Especially passengers in the north, around the great lakes, had to cancel trips. The airports in Chicago and Detroit are among the most important hubs in the country. More than 5,700 flights in the United States had to be canceled on Friday alone. The tracking page”
FlightAwareAccording to this, there are currently more than 1,300. Accordingly, there are also no connections at the Canadian airport in Toronto.
This message was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on December 24th, 2022.
