Wintry weather batters much of United States
THE winter weather that has overwhelmed power grids, leaving millions without electricity in recordbreaking cold, kept its grip on parts of the United States on Wednesday.
At least 20 people have died, some while struggling to find warmth inside their homes.
In Houston, Texas, one family succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from a car exhaust in their garage, while another died after flames spread from their fireplace.
The polar vortex is to blame. This is a weather pattern that usually keeps to the Arctic but is increasingly visiting lower latitudes and staying beyond its welcome. Scientists say global warming caused by humans is partly responsible for making its southward escapes longer and more frequent.
More than 100 million people live in areas covered by some type of winter weather warning, watch or advisory issued yesterday, as yet another winter storm hit Texas and parts of the Southern Plains, the National Weather Service said.
Utilities from Minnesota to Texas and Mississippi have implemented rolling black-outs to ease the burden on power grids straining to meet extreme demand for heat and electricity as record low temperatures were reported in city after city.
Some of the fatalities involved people dying in their cars in subfreezing temperatures, while authorities said a fire that killed three young children and their grandmother in the Houston area was likely to have spread from the fireplace they were using to keep warm.