Since Wednesday evening, the center and the east of the United States have been struck by this storm of rare intensity, whose polar winds have also caused significant snowfall.
MO12345LEMONDE WITH AFP
For a large part of the Americans, the Christmas weekend was turned upside down by a violent winter storm accompanied by extreme temperatures, which caused massive power and already caused the death of more than a dozen people .
Nearly 750,000 households were deprived of current Saturday December 24 afternoon, window According to the Poweroutage.us site, especially in North Carolina, and in Maine, where temperatures were largely negative.
Transport has notably been disrupted by this historic storm that has been touching the country since Wednesday. Over 5,500 flights were canceled on Friday. This represented 20 % of air traffic that day, a tweeted the Minister of American Transport, Pete Buttigieg .
More than 2,600 flights were again canceled on Saturday, especially at Detroit and Minneapolis airports, according to the specialized site Flightaware. But according to the American Aviation Authority (FAA) “the strongest disturbances are behind us, and the companies and airports will gradually recover,” explained Mr. Buttigieg. Many travelers found themselves hoping for a Christmas miracle, in the form of a last -minute place in a plane that would allow them to arrive in time for celebrations.
of “hundreds” of people blocked
In many states, the roads have become impracticable or very dangerous, causing sometimes fatal accidents. In Ohio, four people died in storm accidents, Governor Mike Dewine said. In total, the authorities have confirmed at least 17 dead, through eight states.
“In the most affected places, there are no emergency services available, including in the city of Buffalo”, in New York State, said on Saturday morning during a Press conference, Mark Poloncarz, head for the County of Erie. Two people died of medical problems for lack of having been rescued, he said.
The day before, a prohibition to move had been pronounced in this region. But hundreds of people found themselves stuck in their vehicle, “including people who tried to go out late last night,” Poloncarz said on Saturday. The National Guard was sent to rescue these people, who are blocked in extremely dangerous conditions.
“Do not leave your vehicle!” Tweeted local weather services. “Tie a garment to your antenna or window to indicate that you need help,” they recommended.
Canada also touched
The pressure on the electricity network was also extremely strong due to very low temperatures. The operator in a dozen northeast states, PJM, called on the population to reduce their consumption all day on Saturday, to avoid cuts.
The storm should last all weekend, before temperatures come back to seasonal norms by next week, the American meteorological service (NWS) said. Until then, “if you have to travel or be outside, prepare for an extreme cold by wearing several layers of clothes, and covering as much skin as possible,” he wrote on Saturday. “In places, being outside could cause frostbite in a few minutes.” The strong winds still planned, with gusts sometimes at more than 95 hm/h, risk causing new damage, such as falls of trees on electric lines .
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Canada was also affected by the storm, where all the provinces had weather alerts in place. Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity in Ontario and Quebec, and Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal airports were affected by flight cancellations.