MONSTER WINTER STORM KILLS AT LEAST 11 ACROSS US, TRIGGERS MASS FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS AND POWER OUTAGES

Read Time:2 Minute, 25 Second

Agency Report

A powerful winter storm sweeping across the United States has claimed at least 11 lives, disrupted travel nationwide and left hundreds of thousands without electricity, as authorities warned residents to stay off the roads amid dangerous cold conditions.

The storm, which brought heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from Texas to New England, intensified over the weekend and continued into Monday, with temperatures expected to plunge to life-threatening levels in parts of the country.

In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said five people were found dead outdoors over the weekend, describing the fatalities as a stark reminder of the dangers posed by extreme cold.

Texas authorities confirmed three deaths, including that of a 16-year-old girl who died in a sledding accident. In Louisiana, the state health department reported two deaths linked to hypothermia. One person was also killed and two others injured in a winter weather-related crash in southeast Iowa, according to the state patrol.

PowerOutage.com reported that more than 820,000 customers were without electricity as of Monday, with the worst outages concentrated in the southern United States. Tennessee recorded over 250,000 affected customers after ice brought down power lines, while Louisiana and Mississippi each reported more than 100,000 outages—an especially dangerous situation in regions less accustomed to severe winter weather.

Authorities across several states urged residents to remain indoors unless travel was absolutely necessary. “Stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary,” Texas’s Emergency Management Division warned in a post on X.

The storm also caused major disruptions to air travel. More than 19,000 flights have been cancelled nationwide since Saturday, according to FlightAware, with federal offices closed in Washington, D.C., and near-total flight cancellations reported at major airports in Washington, Philadelphia and New York. In Maine, a small aircraft carrying eight passengers crashed during takeoff at Bangor International Airport on Sunday, though it was not immediately clear if weather conditions were responsible.

At least 20 states and Washington, D.C., have declared states of emergency as the storm pushed into the US Northeast and southeastern Canada, where some areas, including Toronto, recorded near-record snowfall.

READ MORE…

POLITICAL SHAKE-UP IN KANO: 21 LAWMAKERS DEFECT TO APC

President Donald Trump said the federal government was monitoring the situation and coordinating with affected states, urging Americans to “Stay Safe, and Stay Warm.”

Meteorologists attributed the severe weather to a stretched polar vortex, which allowed Arctic air to spill southward across North America. The National Weather Service warned that heavy ice could lead to prolonged power outages, widespread tree damage and extremely hazardous travel conditions, with wind chill temperatures in parts of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest forecast to drop below -50°F.

Officials cautioned that the bitter cold could persist for days after the storm, posing continued risks of frostbite and hypothermia.

AFP