Funviralpark Severe winter storms cut power to 1.7 million homes and businesses across the U.S. on Saturday, leaving millions more worried about the possibility of further power outages as police, fire departments and airports in snow-covered New York state has become dysfunctional.
Across the country, officials have documented storm exposure, icy car crashes, and other injuries, including two people who died at their home outside Buffalo, New York, when emergency workers were unable to reach them during a historic snowstorm. We believe the impact caused at least 12 deaths in the condition.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Saturday that Buffalo Niagara International Airport will be closed until Monday morning, some roads will be closed until Christmas Day, and nearly all of Buffalo’s fire trucks will be stuck in the snow. Said there was
“No amount of emergency vehicles can survive the situation we are talking about,” Ho-chul said.
Dizzying snowstorms, freezing rains and frigid temperatures cut power from Maine to Seattle, forcing major grid operators to shut down rolling blackouts to the 65 million people they serve in the eastern United States. I warned you that you might need
Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said the frigid weather was making power plant operations difficult and asked residents in 13 states to refrain from unnecessary power use. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies electricity to 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states, told local power companies on Saturday it plans to “ensure the reliability of the power system.” instructed to implement a power outage.
Chris Muenks and his cat said they woke up Saturday morning in a cold house in Greenville, Tennessee. Power was back on but went out again in the morning during a planned rolling blackout, he said.
“I’m disappointed with the power grid. It feels like a kick in the gut,” Munks said. “I understand storms and winds, but I don’t understand ‘not enough power’.”
About 400,000 electricity customers remained without electricity Saturday morning in six New England states. Some utilities have warned that it could take days before power is restored. According to poweroutage.us, approximately 370,000 customers were out of power in North Carolina. Covers all or part of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington DC He warned that PJM interconnects that do so may also require rolling blackouts.
In the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, two people died at their home on Friday after paramedics failed to arrive in time to treat the medical emergency, according to Erie County Administrator Mark Polonkers.
“This could be the worst storm in our community’s history,” Polonkers said Saturday morning. “Hundreds of people may still be stuck in their cars. .”
A farmer drives by an icicle-covered fence while checking houseplants before sunrise on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022 in Plant City, Florida. Nighttime temperatures dropped into his mid-twenties. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Chris O’Meara/AP
Polonkertz said emergency services were unavailable in several populous communities in and around Buffalo because so many emergency vehicles were covered in snow. He said doctors had to talk the woman and her pregnant sister through the birth of her sister’s baby.
“It’s not that attempts haven’t been made, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to respond quickly in a life-threatening emergency,” Polonkertz said.
Hochul announced late Friday plans to deploy 54 National Guard soldiers to the area.
Four people died on the Ohio Turnpike in Kansas City, Missouri. In Kansas City, Missouri, a driver skidded into a creek and died. On Wednesday, three people were killed in another crash on an icy road in northern Kansas.
A woman in Vermont died Friday in a hospital after a broken tree fell in strong winds. Police in Colorado Springs said they found the corpse of a person believed to be homeless as freezing temperatures and snow poured into the area.
More than 1.7 million homes and businesses were affected by the power outage early Saturday, according to PowerOutage, a website that tracks utility reports.
The storm was nearly unprecedented in its extent, from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande River along the border with Mexico. About 60% of the U.S. population faced some kind of winter weather advisory or warning, with temperatures well below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains, the National Weather Service said.
Freezing rains blanketed much of the Pacific Northwest with layers of ice, and people in the Northeast faced the threat of coastal and inland flooding.
Frigid temperatures and gusty winds are expected to bring “dangerously cold winds to many parts of the central and eastern United States this holiday weekend,” according to the Bureau of Meteorology, a situation that could pose a “life-threatening threat to travelers.” It could pose a possible danger,” he added. left behind.
As millions of Americans traveled before Christmas, more than 5,700 flights inside and outside the United States were canceled on Friday, according to tracking site FlightAware. camping and awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on pandemic-era restrictions that are preventing many from seeking asylum.
Weather forecasters say a bomb cyclone, a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure during a storm, has formed near the Great Lakes, causing blizzard conditions such as high winds and snow.
Even people in Florida were gearing up for unusually cold weather as a rare freeze warning was issued for much of the state over the holiday weekend.
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Breiberg reported from Dallas. Mark Levy is an AP journalist in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Corey Williams of Southfield, Michigan. John Lavy of Charleston, West Virginia. Maysoon Khan of Albany, New York. and her Hannah Schoenbaum of Raleigh, North Carolina contributed to this report.
