At least eleven people have died in the United States as a result of a storm of freezing temperatures that hit parts of the Midwest and the East of the country and that, for the moment, shows no signs of coming to an end.
These eleven deaths have been recorded in a total of four states and as a result of the dangerous and potentially fatal conditions that have been occurring in the country for several days now.
According to information provided by the Kansas authorities, three people have died in car accidents related to weather conditions in the state, reports the US chain CNN.
In the state of Missouri, a person has died after his vehicle skidded on the asphalt and fell into a frozen stream. In Ohio, four people have also been certified dead in a car accident, while many others have been injured.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has confirmed the death of two other people in a car accident, as well as the death of a homeless person in the city of Liusville. The body was found without signs of violence, although the authorities are awaiting the results of the autopsy to determine the causes of death.
According to the US media, weather forecasts suggest that the storm will be accompanied in the coming hours by heavy snowfall, blizzards and even flooding in some parts of the northeast coast.
At the moment, a truce is not in sight until after Christmas Day, as reported by CNN.
More than a million people have lost electricity in various states of the country, especially in the Northeast region, which includes states such as New York, Maine, New Hampshire or Connecticut, and where more than 860,000 people have lost access to electricity. electricity.
The weather conditions have also caused the cancellation of more than 5,000 flights and the delay of another 10,000 until Friday.
CANCELED FLIGHTS
Thousands of flights were canceled and homeless shelters were packed in one of America’s most treacherous holiday travel seasons in decades, with temperatures plummeting in some areas in a matter of hours.
Forecasters warned of a so-called “bomb cyclone” looming that could further aggravate conditions ahead of Christmas for much of the country.
Frigid air was moving east across the central United States, and wind chill warnings had been issued that would affect an estimated 135 million people in the coming days, weather service meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook said Thursday.
In places like Des Moines, Iowa, the temperature will feel minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, making it possible to suffer frostbite in less than five minutes.
“This is not like a snow day from when you were a kid,” President Joe Biden warned Thursday at the White House after a briefing by federal officials. “This is something serious.”