Polar wave colder than the pole | With thermal sensation …

The extreme cold spell that hit the United States with temperatures reaching yesterday 39 degrees below zero and a thermal sensation of -45 in the west-central regions of the country has left at least 11 dead and reached about 75% of the population, which is about 216 million inhabitants.

The state of Minnesota has suffered the worst of the polar cold spell, and in the small town of Bemidji, near the border with Canada, the thermometers marked 39 below zero at the beginning of the day. the nearby town of Duluth repeated with a thermal sensation close to minus 50 degrees.

In areas less accustomed to the polar cold, temperatures continue to tremble with temperatures between 15 and 30 degrees below average for the year in the Upper Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes, or the northern central regions of the United States. Atlantic.

Chicago, accustomed to the cruel winters, has undergone temperatures lower than the South Pole, Siberia or even Mars, which paralyzed the third most populous city in the country, with 2.7 million # 39; inhabitants.

This forced its inhabitants to virtually disappear from the streets and stay in their homes in order to avoid the arctic air mbad that lasts for days in the Midwest and Great Lakes region. with thermal sensations reaching the negative 55 degrees

The deaths related to this wave of polar cold are already at least eleven, according to the provisional statement prepared yesterday by the authorities.

A young couple was killed in a car accident in rural Indiana and three victims in Iowa, including an 18 – year – old student who was found lying on the campus of Iowa. University of Iowa.

Two men died in Illinois, one hit by a snow plow, and the other cases were exposed to cold in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Dozens of people were also injured in several chain collisions on slippery roads due to accumulated ice.

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced that at least 30 admissions had been recorded Wednesday in the state 's emergency rooms because of the freezing and lightening. ;hypothermia. In addition, in the Midwest hospitals, dozens of additional patients were treated for the same symptoms. .

After the cold that virtually shut down the city of Chicago, with no public and private activity, and public schools closed until now, life has gradually returned to normal, although local airports have recorded more than 1 700 flight cancellations in the last 24 hours. .

In the rest of the major cities in the Midwest, intense cold is expected to begin to subside, although heating facilities are being maintained to serve the homeless or those with heating problems in their homes. houses. The authorities urge people to stay warm and not to neglect what experts consider "the coldest air in a generation."

The meteorological service has asked drivers to prepare for "dangerous" journeys due to the accumulation of snow and sub-zero temperatures, which hinders the cleaning and treatment of roads.

In the Chicago area, the utility has reported that 7,000 households have supply problems due to network freezes. In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer asked residents of the state last night not to use the heater as much until Friday noon.

The petition is presented, he explained, before "the extremely high demand for natural gas" and an incident at a service provider who reduced the gas distribution, in order to defeat the polar cold with the "least possible damage" "your electrical systems.