US shivers in record-breaking cold snap
New York:
North America’s East Coast is shivering in a recordbreaking freeze just a day after a deadly “bomb cyclone” dumped snow as far south as Florida. In parts of US and Canada, temperatures are expected to fall below -20F (-29C), said the National Weather Service.
In Canada, high winds have knocked out power for tens of thousands of residents in Nova Scotia. Giant waves caused by the storm saw freezing floodwaters inundate parts of the New England coast.
The extreme weather has so far been linked to up to 19 deaths in the US and two more in Canada, according to reports.
Four deaths were reported due to traffic accidents in North and South Carolina. Further fatalities occurred in Wisconsin, Kentucky and Texas.
In Philadelphia, a car was unable to stop at the bottom of a steep hill and was hit by a commuter train, killing a passenger in the vehicle.
In Virginia, a girl was fatally struck by a car while sledging, and a 75-year-old man was killed after being hit by a snow plough.
A 13-year-old girl died and 35 others suffered carbon-monoxide poisoning in an apartment building in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where the temperature averaged 20F (-7C) on Thursday night. Seven of those treated were first responders.
BBC