Historic winter storm grips United States leaving millions without power
WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump has described the winter storms sweeping across large parts of the United States as “historic,” as forecasters warned of record-low temperatures and the risk of potentially “catastrophic” damage.
The severe weather system has left more than one million people without electricity and triggered the cancellation of over 10,000 flights in the past two days, disrupting travel and daily life across vast areas of the country.
Heavy snow, freezing rain and bitterly cold temperatures have paralysed parts of the eastern and southern United States, with the storm system stretching across nearly two-thirds of the country.
According to PowerOutage, electricity disruptions continued to rise, with at least 330,000 customers without power in Tennessee and more than 100,000 each in Mississippi and Louisiana. Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia and Alabama were also among the affected states.
Flight-tracking website FlightAware reported that more than 10,800 flights were cancelled on Sunday alone, following over 4,000 cancellations on Saturday.
President Trump approved federal emergency disaster declarations for several states and said authorities would remain in close contact with communities in the storm’s path, urging Americans to “stay safe and stay warm.”
The Department of Homeland Security said 17 states and Washington DC had declared states of emergency, while the National Weather Service warned that the storm could prove unusually widespread and long-lasting, compounding risks to infrastructure and public safety.
