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23-01-2024
TENNESSEE/ CAROLINA: The United States has been hit by ferocious winter storms in the past week, which has resulted in nearly 90 weather-related fatalities across different parts of the country.
Oregon remains under a state of emergency after enduring severe ice storms that have claimed 16 lives while Tennessee has reported at least 25 deaths due to the freezing weather, media reported.
Tens of thousands of people remain without power in various parts of the country, including nearly 10,000 in Oregon, 8,000 in North Carolina, 7,000 in California, and 4,300 in Kentucky as of Sunday.
Meanwhile, icy conditions may persist until mid-week before a thaw is expected with some meteorologists warning that warm air and rain could cause flooding in parts of the Midwest and north-eastern US.
A comprehensive tally by CBS has recorded 89 weather-related fatalities across the country over the past week.
Additionally, fatalities have also been reported in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Washington, Kentucky, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey and elsewhere.
In one incident in Portland, Oregon last Wednesday, three people were electrocuted to death when powerful winds caused a power line to fall and strike the vehicle in which they were travelling. A baby who was in the vehicle survived.
Other deaths remain under investigation.
Mississippi officials are warning drivers to “drive only if necessary” and “be aware of black ice” on roads due to weather conditions.
Colleges and universities have delayed students’ return from winter break.
Water issues have also plagued Tennessee, where 400,000 remain under a “boil water” notice due to broken pipes in the Memphis area.
The local utility there said it had fixed 41 water mains and more than 4,000 water pipes because of the cold temperatures.
Two weeks of storms that have turned roads into icy death traps, frozen people to death from Oregon to Tennessee and caused power outages that could take weeks to fix continued to sock both coasts with another round of weather chaos on Friday.
The rain, snow, wind and bitterly cold temperatures have been blamed for at least 55 deaths in the US over the past two weeks as a series of storms moved across the country. Schools and roads have closed, and air traffic has been snarled
There is hope. The forecast for next week calls for above average temperatures across almost the whole country, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavier-than-forecast snow fell in New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., on Friday and Michigan City, Indiana, received 17 inches (43 centimeters) of lake-effect snow but the biggest problems remained in places hit hard by storms earlier in the week. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
