US blackout amid cold snap
MILLIONS were left without power as a winter storm gripped the southern and central United States on Tuesday with record-low temperatures in ill-prepared areas, and a tornado claiming three lives.
More than 20 stormrelated deaths have been registered so far, including in traffic accidents in Texas, Kentucky and Missouri, according to local media.
In hardest-hit Texas — where freezing conditions prompted utility companies to implement rotating blackouts — a woman and girl died from carbon monoxide poisoning after using a car to generate heat, according to NBC News.
In Houston on Monday, a homeless man was killed “possibly from exposure,” according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, and the city’s police chief said another man had been found dead after potential exposure to low temperatures.
A man in Louisiana died when he hit his head after slipping on ice, and a 10-year-old Tennessee boy died after he and his six-year-old sister fell through the ice into a pond on Sunday.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday vowed to provide additional emergency resources for those hit by the “historic storm.”
He also thanked “road workers, highway patrol officers, and first responders who are taking swift action in horrific conditions to save lives,” according to a White House statement.
The winter
storm
spawned at least four tornadoes, according to Atlanta-based weather. com, including one in coastal North Carolina late on Monday that killed at least three people and injured 10 more.
“It is estimated that at least 50 homes were affected in the incident and several power lines were damaged, causing power outages,” Brunswick County Emergency Services said.
Photos and video broadcast by US media showed downed trees, flattened homes and smashed cars.
According to the Poweroutage.us tracking site, more than three million residential, commercial and industrial customers were without electricity in Texas as of Tuesday.
In the state capital Austin, the mercury dropped to minus 12 degrees Celsius) — well below February’s average low.
Rare wintry scenes played out in Houston, where locals built snowmen and sledded. “It’s lovely to see the white but very dangerous at the same time because people here don’t know how to drive in it,” said a resident Michael, who only gave his first name.
In Mississippi, residents woke up to discover much of the Deep South state transformed into a snow-and-ice-covered landscape. Authorities were reportedly struggling to clear roads, as they did not have snow plows because the state so rarely needs them.
Officials across the US urged residents to exercise caution in navigating the perilous conditions.
Weather-related emergencies have been declared in Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Mississippi and Oregon — where nearly 200,000
customers were without power.
Across the southern border, Mexican officials said six people died after temperatures plunged and frozen pipelines bringing natural gas from the US caused rolling power outages.
Four died in Monterrey, three of them homeless people who succumbed to exposure and one person who died at home from carbon monoxide poisoning from a heater. Two agricultural workers also died in neighboring Tamaulipas from hypothermia.
The National Weather Service said the winter storm will move towards the northeast US before “making a beeline for eastern Canada.”
“But not before it causes heavy snow and freezing rain in parts of the eastern Great Lakes and New England.”
THE city’s expressways saw more vehicles during this year’s Spring Festival due to more people staying at home because of the coronavirus pandemic and the warm weather, the local transportation commission said.
A total of 5 million vehicles were registered, about 9 percent higher than last year, as more residents opted for holiday destinations nearer home.
The number of vehicles leaving the city dropped to 568,000, half of last year’s number. There was also a 20 percent reduction in vehicles visiting the city.
Congestion mainly occurred in suburban areas, such as expressways to Chongming District, the Gaodong entrance to the G1503 Ring and Jiasong Road M., and the Zhufeng exits on the Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway.
The return rush this year was also earlier than last year, with the travel peak (usually the last day of the holiday) on February 15, the second last day.
Congestion was also reported at the Yangtze River tunnel and bridge as well as the G15.
China Railway Shanghai Group said around 1.02 million train trips were made in the Yangtze River Delta region on the last day of the holiday.
An additional 74 trains operated on the day to cope with the return peak.
ANOTHER cold front hit the city yesterday and will continue today, with falling temperatures and strong winds, according to the city’s weather bureau.
Highs will be 8 to 9 degrees Celsius with lows of 1 to 3. However, the mercury is predicted to plummet to minus 3 degrees in suburban areas this morning.
Winds are forecast to be more than 70 kilometers per hour in local coastal areas — strong enough to break tree branches.
Temperatures will begin to rebound tomorrow, with a high of 23 forecast for Sunday.
The local ecology and environment bureau predicts good air quality over the next two days.
Strict management and control of fireworks and firecrackers in the city has resulted in clear air over the holiday.
Setting off fireworks and firecrackers is a Chinese tradition during Spring Festival, but the practice has been banned in the area within the Outer Ring Road since 2016.