USA: 31 Weather Related Deaths
A severe winter storm that hit the eastern United States on Christmas Day caused dangerous and miserable conditions for millions of Americans. The storm, which featured blizzard conditions and strong winds, left more than 200,000 people across several eastern states without power on Christmas morning and disrupted holiday travel plans.
Wind chill temperatures in all 48 contiguous US states fell below freezing over the weekend, leading to thousands of flight cancellations and trapping residents in their homes. The storm has caused 31 weather-related deaths in nine states, including four in Colorado and at least 12 in New York. The city of Buffalo, New York was particularly hard hit, with eight-foot snow drifts and power outages causing life-threatening conditions. The storm caused widespread travel disruptions, with more than 2,400 flights cancelled on Sunday, in addition to some 3,500 cancelled on Saturday and nearly 6,000 on Friday. The extreme weather also strained electricity grids, leading to power outages for millions of people in states such as North Carolina and Tennessee.
