At least 20 dead and millions without electricity due to winter storm in US – telam

At least 20 people have died after winter storm and tornado hit the United States

At least 20 people have died in the United States and six more in northern Mexico due to the polar cold snap which, with record sub-zero temperatures since last Thursday, has also caused snowfall and blackouts. common for millions of people.

In the US city of San Antonio, in the state of Texas, where the average temperatures in February are about 20 degrees, -8 degrees were recorded, one degree higher than what was recorded in Alaska, while ‘in Austin, the temperature of the capital reached -12 degrees, according to the AFP agency.

According to the press, more than 20 people have died because of the bad winter weather conditions since last Thursday, most of them in Texas, but also in Louisiana and Tennessee.

NBC reported that a woman and girl were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning after using a vehicle to generate heat at a Houston home affected by power outages.

In Texas, a populous state in the southern United States more accustomed to heat spikes than drastic drops in temperature, power companies have been practicing partial blackouts since the weekend to avoid overloading the system.

More than 3.7 million residents and businesses were without afternoon power in the United States3.2 million of them in Texas, according to the Poweroutage.us site.

Dangerous conditions from the storm affected shipments of covid-19 vaccine, interrupting planned injections, underlined the health authorities.

President Joe Biden, who has already activated federal assistance for Texas on Sunday, has spoken with the governor of that state and those of other affected states: Louisiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Tennessee, Mississipp and Oklahoma.

The president told them to “deploy all additional federal emergency resources available to help the residents of your states weather this historic storm,” the White House reported.

Further north, Chicago was expecting up to 35 inches of snow before the cold snap ended.. Today’s weather conditions have caused nearly 60 flight cancellations at local airports, according to a subsidiary of the ABC network.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said an area of ​​low pressure would develop in south Texas tonight that would produce “heavy snow and ice” from the southern Great Plains, across the Mississippi Valley on Wednesday. and in the northeast of the country on Thursday. .

Cold arctic air will linger in the central area of ​​the country for the next few days, the NWS noted, after warning that the feeling of polar heat would spread to Mexico.

Northern Mexico, also affected by unusual sub-zero temperatures, has recorded at least six deaths and power outages in different states, reported the authorities, who have carried out operations to transfer homeless people or people whose homes are not adapted to withstand the cold to shelters.

In Nuevo Len, the capital Monterrey, the third largest city in the country, three people died from hypothermia and another from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a heater.

In the neighboring state of Tamaulipas, the death, also due to hypothermia, of two agricultural workers has been reported.

The power outages in the United States also had an impact on Mexico, as they resulted in the suspension of the gas supply that powers Mexican power plants.

Nearly five million users in six northern states were affected by a power outage on Monday. Until Tuesday, 82% of the service had been restored.