More than eight thousand canceled flights, more than a million people without electricity, catastrophic floods. Christmas promises to be dramatic for millions of Americans. More than 240 million people (out of 380 million inhabitants) are affected, from the Canadian border to Texas, by what is already described as the coldest Christmas in forty years in part of the country, in particular the Midwest, where extreme temperatures (−55°C) were felt.
The wave of polar cold and the snow blizzard that have crossed the country since December 21 reached the East Coast on Friday December 23, continuing to sow accidents and desolation among the inhabitants who were preparing for the first real end-of-year celebrations in the States. United since the pandemic. The National Weather Service has warned against exposure to such severe cold. It only takes a few minutes to cause frostbite on the skin, he recalled. Beyond that, humans risk hypothermia and even death.
Americans haven’t taken Joe Biden’s advice to avoid travel. Thursday, the American president had alerted the inhabitants against the severity of the atmospheric conditions. “Please take this storm extremely seriously,” he had recommended, highlighting the example of the White House, where staff had been authorized to leave the offices before the deterioration of the situation.
All his compatriots have not been able to advance their travels, in a country where 112 million inhabitants make a journey of at least 80 km at the end of the year, according to statistics from “triple A”, the American Association of motorists (AAA). Many passengers who hoped to rejoin their families for Christmas remained lost in airports, paralyzed by the blizzard. In Cleveland (Ohio) and Grand Rapids (Michigan) more than 70% of flights have been canceled, as in Portland (Oregon). Buffalo Airport in New York State, gateway to Niagara Falls, preferred to close. Domino effect: more than 8,400 flights were delayed, according to the FlightAware air traffic monitoring site, including in regions less affected by climatic conditions, due to the rotation plan and aircraft connections. In San Francisco Bay, 200 flights were canceled when the temperature exceeded 15°C.
State of emergency declared in several states
In Denver (Colorado), a city that does not fear winter, the Siberian cold has taken residents by surprise by lowering temperatures at a record pace: 21 degrees drop in a few hours between Wednesday and Thursday, when with −31 °C, the thermometer has almost reached the 1990 record. More than 600 flights have been canceled. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, 160 km away, the temperature plunged from 6°C to −16°C in half an hour, a historic record. Delivery services from the Post Office to FedEX and Amazon warned that not all gifts would arrive on time. “ The end of year celebrations are interrupted “, lamented the New York Times.
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