A winter storm sweeping across the USA is increasingly causing problems for the country’s infrastructure. The authorities said that almost 1.5 million households and millions of people were without electricity, at least temporarily. Countless roads were closed on the eve of Christmas due to massive snowfall or dangerously slippery roads, and there were sometimes fatal accidents. Millions of US citizens had to cancel or at least change their travel plans for the festival.
The US Weather Service (NWS) spoke of a “historic” event. The temperatures have now fallen to as low as minus 48 degrees Celsius. The size of the Arctic cold front is also exceptional. It stretched from the Canadian border in the north to the Mexican border in the south.
Several US states declared states of emergency, including New York, Oklahoma and Kentucky. According to a website specializing in this, the states of North Carolina, Maine and Virginia were particularly affected by the power outages. Around 5,500 flights were canceled by yesterday evening (local time) for weather reasons, with the airports in Seattle, New York, Chicago and Detroit being particularly affected.