Deadly winter storm pushes into east as US states shiver
NEW YORK: A historic winter weather system that brought biter, record-busting cold to much of the southern and central United States was pushing up the East Coast on Thursday, with forecasters warning of heavy snowfall and dangerous, icy buildups.
The frigid blast has over the past week seen Arctic cold envelope a US heartland unfamiliar with such extremes, leaving dozens of dead in its wake and millions of people in oil-rich Texas without power.
The National Weather Service ( NWS) said a “major” winter storm would impact an area stretching from Virginia up to the Northeast.
“The swath of heaviest snowfall is forecast to occur from the Appalachians of Virginia and West Virginia to northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania,” the NWS said, warning of treacherous travel conditions.
Across Texas, which has been hardest hit by the cold snap, utility companies were gradually restoring power though more than 500,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity on Thursday morning.
Texas power companies had to implement rolling blackouts to avoid grids being overloaded as residents cranked up the heat. The surge in demand came just as generating capacity drooped thanks to power stations and wind turbines freezing.
David Hernandez, 38, spent the night at a Houston church with other people who had fled their homes.
“My car got stranded and I was trying to sleep in the car but it was just too cold,” Hernandez said. “Liquids in my car were actually turning to ice so it was like sleeping in an ice box.
“I had to come here,” he said. “There’s no choice.” Texas authorities have opened about 300 emergency “warming centres” across the state.
Compounding the misery, thousands of Houston residents were suffering from both power outages and a loss of water pressure.
Nearly seven million Texans were being advised to boil their water before drinking it or using it for cooking, said Toby Baker, who heads the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, adding that nearly 264,000 people were impacted by non-operational water systems.