Record storm hits US, 20 killed Heavy snowfall hits Syria, Israel
Biden vowed to provide additional emergency resources for those affected by the storm
Washington, Feb, 17: 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 Sunday.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday vowed to provide additional emergency resources for those affected 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 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 in a statement.
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 evening.
n the state capital Austin, the temperature dropped to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12 degrees Celsius) — well below February’s average low of 45F. By contrast, thermometers in Anchorage, Alaska read 20F. —
Beirut, Feb. 17: Snow blanketed parts of Syria, Lebanon and Israel on Wednesday, blocking roads, disrupting traffic and postponing exams at some universities.
Large parts of Syria were covered, including the capital Damascus which is witnessing this winter’s first snowfall. Snow was as high as 15 cm (6 inches) in the mountains of Sweida province, according to the official state news agency SANA.
Roads in some provinces were blocked. In the central province of Hama, bulldozers shoveled snow to open roads while vehicles skidded on ice, further causing traffic disruption.
The University of
Damascus called off midterm exams scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in all its branches around Syria because of the extreme weather conditions. The country’s ports remained open.
In the opposition-held northwestern Syria, civil defense teams have been building dirt mounds since Tuesday around displaced persons’ camps to prevent the rain from flooding the crowded areas.
Nearly 3 million displaced people live in northwestern Syria, mostly in tents and temporary shelters. Heavy rainfall last month damaged over 190 displacement sites, destroying and damaging over 10,000 tents. —