Ice Storm in USA: Consequences and Measures

A massive ice and snowstorm affecting two-thirds of the United States has left at least six dead and caused power outages for over a million homes this Sunday. The ice wreaked havoc on home electricity, especially in the southern United States. The Secretary of Transportation also noted that not only are airports specifically affected by this storm, but also U.S. roads. Throughout the day, the specialized website poweroutage.us showed over a million power outages. «We have 17 states along this band of the storm that have closed lanes to be able to pass snowplows and spread salt, and many of these states have reduced speed limits on our roads,» explained Duffy. In an interview with Fox, Duffy stated that by Monday, there will be about 2,600 flight cancellations. Since the storm began, one death has occurred in Texas, two in Louisiana, and three in New York, all from hypothermia, according to The Washington Post. The hardest-hit state was Tennessee, where over 300,000 customers, approximately 9% of the state, were still without power Sunday night, according to poweroutage.us. «Therefore, in places where we have ice, it becomes more difficult to become fully functional quickly,» he anticipated. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani—who helped shovel snow from the streets of the Big Apple this Sunday—announced that there will be no in-person classes on Monday. The three deceased in New York appeared to be homeless and were found outdoors, according to local authorities. However, the Secretary stressed that «there is no capacity for airlines to relocate people for two and a half days.» U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said that the massive storm has caused the worst day of flight cancellations since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with over 11,000 cancellations and 17,000 delays. But in the Midwest and North, temperatures won't start to rise until the end of the week. More than 125,000 customers were left without electricity in Mississippi and Louisiana. «One of the problems is that it will continue to be cold in the South and Southwest until Tuesday or Wednesday,» he noted. «It will be a day of remote learning for New York City schools to ensure the safety of all amid the adverse weather conditions,» the mayor noted in a statement. By Monday morning, the heaviest accumulations will likely be in an area including parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont. However, at 9:41 p.m. local time (2:41 GMT), the website showed that only 870,735 homes were affected by outages. «We expect it to improve, but what we see is that airlines are dealing with this massive delay,» noted the Secretary of Transportation, who pointed out that «we have to work on that backlog and maintain the current flight structure for the coming days, whether it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.» Many areas of the East Coast had received between 15 and 40 centimeters of snow and sleet, and more snow and significant amounts of ice are expected to accumulate through Monday. «New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut have closed their roads to commercial traffic. Worst day of flight cancellations since the pandemic The U.S. Secretary of Transportation Emergency Protocols Meanwhile, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, has asked the population of more than 20 states that have activated emergency protocols to avoid leaving their homes and has assured that the Federal Government is cooperating with states and electric companies to expedite grid repairs as quickly as possible amid the even colder weather to come.