U.S. winter storm strands travellers as frigid weather whips from north to south

A battering winter storm knocked out power to homes and businesses across the United States on Saturday, left millions more to worry about the prospect of further outages and crippled police, fire departments and an airport in snow-blown New York state.

Across the country, officials have attributed at least a dozen deaths to exposure, icy car crashes and other effects of the storm, including two people who died in their homes outside Buffalo, N.Y., when emergency crews couldn't reach them amid historic blizzard conditions.

From the Canadian to the Mexican border and coast to coast, some 240 million people in all were under winter weather warnings and advisories of some sort on Friday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

The service said its map of existing or impending meteorological hazards "depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever."

WATCH| Majority of Americans under weather warning, advisory:

'Some delays' still expected Saturday at Toronto airport amid winter storm

2 years ago

Duration 3:23

The ongoing winter storm across Canada and in the United States is having a 'trickle-down effect' that impacts travel at Toronto Pearson Airport, according to GTAA spokesperson Rachel Bertone.

Frigid temperatures break records

A flurry of yuletide temperature records were predicted as a U.S. deep freeze sharpened by perilous wind chills continued to envelope much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation into the holiday weekend.

Temperatures are forecast to top out on Saturday at just -13 C in Pittsburgh, surpassing its previous all-time coldest Christmas Eve high of -10.5 C, set in 1983, the NWSsaid.

Athens, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., were likewise expected to record their coldest daytime Christmas Eve high temperatures, while Washington, D.C., was forecast to experience its chilliest December24 since 1989.

While in Mexico, migrants camped near the U.S. border in unusually cold temperatures as they awaited a U.S. Supreme Court decision on pandemic-era restrictions that prevent many from seeking asylum.

Millions face blackouts

Blinding blizzards, freezing rain and frigid cold also knocked out power from Maine to Seattle. By early Saturday were still affecting more than 1.7 million homes and businesses, according to the website PowerOutage, which tracks utility reports.

A major electricity grid operator warned the 65 million people it serves across the eastern U.S. that rolling blackouts might be required.

Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said power plants are having difficulty operating in the frigid weather and has asked residents in 13 states to refrain from unnecessary use of electricity.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity to 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding states, directed local power companies on Saturday to implement planned interruptions to "ensure power system reliability."

Across the six New England states, almost 400,000 electric customers remained without power on Saturday morning, with some utilities warning it could be days before power is restored. In North Carolina, nearly 370,000 customers were without power, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

PJM Interconnection which covers all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. also warned rolling blackouts might be required.

Watch | Massive winter storm is pummelsU.S. ahead of holiday weekend:

Winter storm pummels U.S. ahead of holidays

2 years ago

Duration 1:59

A massive winter storm is pummeling the U.S., with more than two thirds of Americans under an extreme weather alert. Millions of homes and businesses are without power in the East Coast, Midwest and Texas.

Storm slows emergency response

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday that the the Buffalo Niagara International Airport will be closed through Monday morning, some roads would be closed through Christmas Day and almost every fire truck in Buffalo was stranded in the snow.

"No matter how many emergency vehicles we have, they cannot get through the conditions as we speak," Hochul said.

In the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, two people died in their homes on Friday when emergency crews could not reach them in time to treat their medical emergencies, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

"This may turn out to be the worst storm in our community's history," Poloncarz said Saturday morning. "There are still likely hundreds of people stuck in vehicles."

Poloncarz said there is no emergency service available in Buffalo and several populous communities surrounding it because so many emergency vehicles are snowbound. He said a doctor had to talk a woman and her pregnant sister through the delivery of the sister's baby.

"That is not to say attempts aren't being made, but there is no guarantee that in a life-threatening emergency situation that they're going to be able to respond immediately," Poloncarz said.

Hochul late Friday announced plans to deploy 54 members of the National Guard to the area.

On the Ohio Turnpike, four died in a massive pileup involving some 50 vehicles. A Kansas City, Mo., driver was killed Thursday after skidding into a creek, and three others died Wednesday in separate crashes on icy northern Kansas roads.

A woman in Vermont died in a hospital Friday after a tree broke in the high winds and fell on her. Police in Colorado Springs said they found the dead body of a person who appeared to be homeless as subzero temperatures and snow descended upon the region.

Holiday travel halted

The disruptions upended daily routines and holiday plans for millions of Americans during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

The American Automobile Association had estimated that 112.7 million people planned to venture 80 km or more from home between Friday and Jan. 2. But stormy weather heading into the weekend likely ended up keeping many of them at home.

At least 3,741 U.S. flights were cancelled on Saturday, with total delays tallying 10,297, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. More than 5,000 flights were cancelled on Friday, the flight tracking service said.

WATCH| Delays continue at Toronto Pearson International Airport:

More than 60% of U.S. population under winter warnings, officials say

2 years ago

Duration 2:48

The U.S. National Weather Service reported that over 240 million people, or roughly 60 per cent of the countrys population, are under some form of winter weather warning or advisory on the seasons busiest travel day.