Thousands of flight cancellations: Historic winter storm paralyzes travel in the USA
Large parts of the USA are affected by a severe winter storm.
© Source: Trisha Ahmed/AP/dpa
A violent winter storm has caused power outages, closed roads and canceled flights in parts of the United States. Meteorologists hardly expect any improvement in the coming days.
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According to data from Flightaware weather conditions contributed to the cancellation of almost 1,500 flights on Wednesday. More than 3,800 other flight connections were delayed. The portal also reported 700 flight cancellations on Thursday morning (CEST). Many more cancellations and delays are expected throughout the day and week.
Winter chaos in northern US and snow warnings in California
The winter weather mainly affects the north of the country. Schools in North Dakota and South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin remained closed, as did many offices and the Minnesota legislature. South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem ordered various branches of government to remain closed in parts of the state. The employees worked from home.
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Up to half a meter of fresh snow is expected in Minnesota. Again „Spiegel“ reports, the U.S. National Weather Service warned for the state: “The historic winter storm will likely make travel impossible.” Only essential car trips should be made in the affected regions, and travelers should also have food and water with them in case of emergencies.
In California, high winds caused trees to fall and power lines to collapse. By Wednesday afternoon, according to the website PowerOutage.us more than 88,000 households cut off from electricity. A snow warning has also been issued for the state, affecting even the normally sunny areas near Los Angeles, the state said “Daily News”.
Freeways have been closed from Arizona to Wyoming. Virtually every street in Wyoming was affected. The state’s Department of Transportation warned of multi-day closures in the face of the big winter storm. The situation was not much better in the neighboring states. “Sometimes it’s impossible to keep up with Mother Nature,” said Wade Kadrmas of the North Dakota Highway Patrol Department.
Winter storm moves on east coast
Meteorologists expect the winter weather to move further eastward as the week progresses. Chaos in travel and flight cancellations are also to be expected here. It was not until the end of December that a severe winter storm paralyzed large parts of the USA.
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At the time, the consequences were particularly severe on the east coast. Dozens of people died in Buffalo, New York state, and it was the worst winter storm in the region for several generations.
Storms slow down avalanche search parties
In the Pacific Northwest, strong winds and heavy snow prevented search teams in the Cascade Mountains from reaching the bodies of three climbers who were struck by an avalanche on a mountaintop over the weekend. However, two experts from the Northwest Avalanche Center hiked to the scene of the accident on Wednesday to see if conditions would allow a rescue attempt later in the week.
In Boulder Creek, a community in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, California, a one-year-old child was critically injured when a redwood tree fell on a house, the broadcaster said KTVU reported.
RND/AP/fred