Washington, United States. Tens of millions of Americans faced bitter cold, heavy snow and freezing rain on Monday as a major winter storm paralyzed parts of the eastern United States. Many residents stayed indoors while others helped neighbors as hazardous conditions spread across multiple regions.
Snow and ice from the Northeast to the South
The storm stretched from New York and Massachusetts in the northeast to Texas and North Carolina in the south, leaving roads frozen with ice and buried under often more than a foot of snow. In some southern states, inch-thick ice coated branches, bringing down trees and power lines.
Disruptions and shelter efforts
Flights were canceled and schools were shut, while volunteers staffed emergency shelters to provide warmth for the needy and homeless.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ryan DuVal, who owns a vintage firetruck, drove through frozen streets looking for people who needed help. “I just saw a need for getting people out of the cold,” DuVal said, describing efforts to offer rides, warm people in the truck, and provide water or meals.
Warnings and forecasts
Winter storm warnings covered 118 million people, and an estimated 157 million were warned to bundle up against cold, from sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures (-18 Celsius) along the Canadian border to below freezing as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.
The National Weather Service said the storm system was expected to drift away from the East Coast into the Atlantic on Monday, but more Arctic air was forecast to move in behind it, prolonging bitter cold and icy conditions over the next few days. Its Monday morning forecast predicted more heavy snow in the northeast, with snow also in the Appalachians and rain, some of it freezing, in the mid-Atlantic and along the southeast coast.
New York emergency response
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had mobilized National Guard troops in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley to assist with the state’s emergency storm response.
How is your community preparing for the ongoing cold and hazardous travel conditions?