Winter storm and tornado in the United States: at least 11 dead

At least 11 people died due to a major snow and ice storm that affected much of the United States and caused major setbacks to over 200 million inhabitants.

The phenomenon left nearly five million families without electricity, many of them already without fuel for heating, and caused a tornado in North Carolina, ANSA news agency reported.

This is a an unprecedented winter in many ways, especially in southern states like Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, where temperatures reached levels never seen before: Dallas recorded the record of minus 19 degrees, but marks of -10 degrees affected cities like Houston and San Antonio.

Meanwhile, further north, more arctic cold with -30 degrees can be recorded in various localities of Arkansas and -35 degrees in metropolitan areas of Nebraska.

And not just the snow: in North Carolina a tornado killed at least three people in Brunswick County.

In addition, the tornado destroyed several houses, tearing them off their foundations and dividing the trees in half.

“It is estimated that at least 50 houses were affected in the incident and several power lines were damaged, causing blackouts,” the county emergency services said in a statement, according to AFP.

“It’s something like I’ve never seen before. Lots of destruction,” Brunswick Sheriff John Ingram said at a press conference today, adding: “It’s going to be a long process. recovery.”

Power lines were also knocked down, reported Brunswick Electric Membership Company, leaving thousands of people without electricity.

The Brunswick County Emergency Management reported that people were trapped in their homes.

The wave of bad weather is heading towards the east coast of the United States, targeting cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia and the capital Washington, already rocked by the heavy snowfall of yesteryear.

There is also an alert in the Great Lakes region and New England, which is preparing for the impact of the storm in the coming hours. The order is to stay in the houses and to avoid any move unless necessary.

Many car crashes take place on frozen streets, with traffic problems almost everywhere, ANSA added.

Also on alert are major international airports on the East Coast, from JFK in New York to Dulles in Washington, where it is preparing for the emergency and the likely cancellation of many flights, with plans drawn up to avoid the chaos.

The discomfort complicates the effort to fight the pandemic, along with the inevitable slowness in the distribution of vaccines. Distribution in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky and South Carolina has been forced to suspend in many areas.

The winter storm pushed up oil and natural gas prices, reaching their highest level in recent weeks.

The country’s largest refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, has had to temporarily shut down the facility.

And the establishments of General Motors, Ford and Toyota They are in the worst affected areas and have been forced to suspend production due to weather conditions and the disruption of energy supplies. Also, a disruption in much of the country of postal services, including those offered by private companies like FedEX.