Freezing storm hits large majority of US states [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• An ‘unprecedented’ freezing storm has struck the US, leaving at least four dead and millions of Texas households without electricity.
• President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency in Texas to deploy federal assistance and reinforcement efforts.
• The National Weather Service reported that about 70 percent of the US were covered with snow.

The US has been overwhelmed with an ‘unprecedented’ winter storm that has already killed at least four individuals and left millions of Texans without power.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), over 150 million Americans would be under a winter storm warning as the weather advisory would cover 25 states, spanning from southern Texas to northern Maine.

Across the central US, record low temperatures have been reported alongside the storm. The NWS said that hundreds of all-time record low temperatures would be broken with this extended “polar plunge.”

At least four fatalities were reported across three states due to the strong cold weather.

The deaths include a 10-year-old boy from Tennessee, after falling into an icy pond; a 50-year-old man from Lafayette, who slipped on ice which resulted in hitting the ground with his head; and two people from separate car crashes in Kentucky, per the state authorities

In Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced during Monday’s night news conference that over 150 traffic accidents were responded to by state police due to the treacherous weather. The incidents resulted in mild to severe physical injuries.

The weather.com also reported thundersnow until the southern area of the Gulf Coast in Galveston, Texas, and at Lake Charles in Louisiana.

Based on the tracking by poweroutage.us, over five million households have no electricity on Monday, about 4.3 million Texans were covered in dark at night.

The rotating brownouts were implemented by the Electric Reliability of Texas. “We urge Texans to put safety first,” the council said in a tweet, asking the state residents to minimize their use of electricity in the meantime.

Governors Greg Abbott (Texas), Kevin Stitt (Oklahoma), and Asa Hutchinson (Arkansas) have deployed the National Guard so that state agencies would have reinforcements such as rescuing stranded people.

President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency in Texas as he instructed federal assistance to help and support all response teams placed. Agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will conduct disaster relief actions and will give further assistance, resources and the necessary equipment to affected Americans.

FlightAware reported that as of 9:30 pm EST, over 6,300 flights were canceled across the US with around 5,200 delayed flights. On Tuesday, around 2,400 flights are expected to get canceled.

According to the NWS, over 70 percent of the entire US was covered by snow on Monday afternoon.

The Capital Weather Gang said that over 50 million Americans could experience freezing temperatures beyond zero degrees celsius in the next few days.

Source: USA Today