According to reports from local US media, a winter storm sweeping across most parts of the United States since the 23rd has caused at least 30 deaths.
Since the 25th, temperatures have plummeted, and at least eight people have been found dead outdoors in New York. Other deaths caused by the winter storm have occurred in Texas, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and other areas.
According to data from the US power outage tracking website, as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on the 26th, nearly 700,000 users across the country were still without power, with most outages occurring in the southern regions. Freezing rain caused local trees and power lines to break, resulting in severe outages in northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee.
The report said that some areas in Mississippi are experiencing the most severe ice storm since 1994.
According to the US flight tracking website, as of 4:30 p.m. on the 26th, 5,134 domestic and international flights to and from the US had been canceled, and 5,941 flights had been delayed. Flight cancellations and delays were most severe at airports in Boston, New York, and Dallas.
The US National Weather Service pointed out that although the storm system was moving off the east coast toward the Atlantic Ocean on the 26th, an Arctic cold front from Canada was following closely behind, expected to keep subzero temperatures for several days.
Santorelli, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, said, “This storm is now leaving the East Coast, but there are still some scattered snow showers. Most importantly, the extreme cold weather is expected to last until early February.”