Mega polar storm in the United States: 20 dead and millions without electricity

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

Temperatures in the US city of San Antonio average around 20 degrees in February. However, in the state of Texas, -8 degrees were recorded, one degree above what was achieved in AlaskaWhile in Austin, the state capital, the temperature reached -12 degrees, according to the AFP agency.

According to press reports, more than 20 people died due to bad winter weather since last Thursday. Most of the victims are from Texas, but there have also been cases in Louisiana and Tennessee.

1:00 p.m .: A band of moderate to heavy snow developing over parts of central and eastern Texas early this morning. Heavy snowfall will reduce visibility to less than 1/2 mile with rates close to 1.5 inches per hour. Avoid unnecessary travel as the roads will likely be slippery and dangerous! #ctxwx #etxwx pic.twitter.com/KqYS0RfdRi

– NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) February 15, 2021

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

Texas is a populated South American state more accustomed to heat spikes than drastic drops in temperature. There, the power companies have carried out partial blackouts since the weekend to avoid overloading the system.

How arctic warming helped freeze Texas

From over 3.7 million inhabitants and businesses that they had no afternoon electricity throughout the United States, 3.2 million of them came from Texas, according to the Poweroutage.us site.

Dangerous conditions caused by the affected storm Covid-19 vaccine shipmentsAs a result, the planned injections had to be halted, health officials said.

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

The president told them he would deploy “everything Additional federal emergency resource available to help residents of your state weather this historic stormThe White House reported. Further north, Chicago was forecasting up to 14 inches of snow before the cold snap ended.

Climatic conditions caused in one day nearly 60 flight cancellations at local airports according to a subsidiary of ABC. The National Weather Service (NWS) has announced that an area of ​​low pressure will develop in South Texas tonight, “Intense snow and ice” from the southern Great Plains, through the Mississippi Valley Wednesday, and into the northeast of the country Thursday.

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The icy arctic air It will persist in the central area of ​​the country for the next few days, the NWS said, after warning that the polar thermal sensation would spread to Mexico. Northern Mexico too affected by extreme subzero temperatures, registered at least six dead and power cuts in various states, authorities reported, who have carried out operations to transfer homeless people or people whose homes are not adapted to withstand the cold to shelters.

In the capital Monterrey, Nuevo León, the third largest city in the country, three people died of hypothermia and another poisoned by carbon monoxide from a heater. In the neighboring state of Tamaulipas, the death, also due to hypothermia, of two agricultural workers has been reported.

Arctic melting coincides with worst science forecast

The power outages in the United States also impacted in Mexico and caused the suspension of gas supply to 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 was restored.