Polar vortex time responsible for deaths in several states

MADISON, Wisconsin – Millions of people in the Midwest experienced a freeze typically reserved for the Arctic Circle, temperatures falling to near 50 degrees under zero Wednesday. The freezing cold, which is expected to hit record lows on Thursday morning, has been blamed for several deaths in the region and fears for the most vulnerable have skyrocketed as night fell.

Nearly unthinkable temperatures caused freezing of airlines' gas lines. to the collapse of power grids and has kept much of the northern border of the United States. Power cuts swept through Wisconsin and Iowa, plunging thousands into a brief, unheated darkness. The dry, icy air instantly froze the exposed water, resulting in spontaneous nosebleeds and making even brief, extremely hazardous outside forays.

Officials from several states have associated at least six deaths with the weather, including several people who may have died of cold. in Milwaukee, Detroit and Rochester, Minnesota. Authorities said that a reported death in Peoria, Illinois, could also be weather related.

In Iowa City, officials from the University of Iowa said that an "insensitive student" had been discovered behind an academic. hall and died later in the hospital. Authorities did not reveal the cause of their deaths, but police told a local television channel that they thought extreme weather was a factor; According to Press Citizen, the air temperature at the time of the student's discovery was minus 22, with a wind chill of minus 51.

Courses at the university were canceled from Tuesday evening to Thursday noon due to weather conditions. "We urge students, faculty, and staff to exercise good judgment and avoid serious risks during these extreme weather conditions," said the school in a campus alert.

[Some of the coldest air in the world is descending on the Midwest]

The governors of Wisconsin and Michigan declared the state of emergency and ordered all closed state government offices; Some state agencies in Illinois have also been closed.

"I urge people to prepare for this harsh climate and to exercise caution when traveling or going out," said Tony Evers, Wisconsin Governor [19659011]. Madison, where people sought refuge during office hours, remained open while the outside temperature dropped to minus 24 ° C; the estimated wind chill gave a sensation of minus 48 degrees.

It was colder than the North Slope of Alaska in many places, including Norris Camp, Minnesota, where temperatures dropped to minus-48 degrees Wednesday , with a chill indexed at minus 65 – making the city the coldest reporting location in the United States from Wednesday night and one of the coldest on the planet.

Even hell, in Michigan, is frozen: the community outside Ann Arbor had to see its temperatures drop to less than 26 on Thursday. The University of Michigan, located nearby, canceled its courses until Thursday

from Minnesota to Michigan, the polar vortex resulting in many school closures, mail service interruptions and thousands of flights canceled, for most of them. from Chicago. Dozens of restaurants, grocery stores and cafes have been closed for the day or reduced opening hours. In Chicago, "Disney on Ice" and the musical "Hamilton" were among the many shows that go night.

For the most vulnerable in the region – even those who have endured the long winters of the Upper Midwest – this polar vortex has been particularly perilous.

Karen Andro, director of Hope & # 39; s Home Ministries at the First United Methodist Church in Madison has spent most of the past few days coordinating with other non-profit organizations and government agencies in order to Organize transportation, hot meals and warming centers for homeless residents of the city. She mentioned past winters, when one person died of cold on the steps of a local church and another had a heart attack while walking between two shelters and said that the services here were improved.

"The cold exacerbates everything," said Andro. noting that homeless people with mental illness, disabilities and health problems are at extreme risk.

Early Wednesday morning, there was a small but dangerous gap in service. An hour before sunrise, dozens of men, bundled up and taking their belongings in grocery bags and suitcases, ventured into the icy morning air. It was minus 24 degrees, and the winds gave an impression of minus 48.

"They should take a bus and tow it here," said Randy George Friesen, 66, who was carrying two bags six auxiliary shelter homes. where he slept Tuesday night at Porchlight headquarters, an organization that helps the homeless. The man's glasses were frosty, his snow-white beard was frozen and he had used scarves to tie a blue blanket around his broad shoulders.

Friesen stated that he did not understand why there was no shuttle between the two hot buildings.

"It will never happen," said Murrel Swift, 48, who also traveled between the shelters. Tiny white crystals had accumulated on his thick lashes.

Inside the shelter, the night director, Maurice Robinson, was shaken. One guest attacked another with a bicycle lock, prompting police, firefighters and the EMS to descend on Porchlight. On nights like Tuesday when the weather is life threatening, the city's shelters do not deny anyone – even if an individual has already been banned because of bad behavior or intoxication.

Porchlight was more crowded than usual and Robinson had to place people on mats along a hallway wall. At least eight men flocked a few hours after the scheduled recording time – at 1:09, 2:22 and 2:37 am

"The cold attracts a lot of people," Robinson said. Even some Midwest homes were not refuges for hardened residents.

Brian Wallheimer, a science writer at Purdue University, invited his three young children to his home in Rockford, Illinois, after the schools closed on Wednesday. The icy air has infiltrated his two-story home in northwest Chicago, he said, and the frost has accumulated on windowsills and door hinges.

"I've never seen this happen," said Wallheimer, 39, while his kids – 9, 6 and 4 – plan to build a strong cover in the basement was born

In addition to the closing of elementary schools and universities in the Midwest, Pittsburgh's districts and colleges in Buffalo also canceled their courses due to extreme weather conditions.

Wind chill estimates dropped to minus 50 in the Dakota and northern Minnesota on Wednesday. Arctic air will tighten in the Midwest by Thursday afternoon; temperatures could even approach zero degrees in Chicago and Milwaukee. On weekends, daytime temperatures will be above freezing in most of the Midwest.

As Chicago neared its record low before the expected thaw, the Chicago area Metra suburban train suspended some train services after extreme temperatures caused wiring problems. According to the Associated Press, some Chicago Transit Authority buses have been turned into mobile warming shelters for the homeless. Lyft said it would offer free trips to the city's warm-up centers, as well as twin cities, Madison, Milwaukee and Detroit.

In Rochester, Minnesota, where temperatures dropped to minus 27 degrees on Wednesday, all municipal transit services were suspended after buses began to experience mechanical difficulties. Xcel Energy has asked Minnesota customers to lower their thermostats to 63 degrees until Thursday morning, "if possible," in order to "ensure that all of our customers continue to benefit from the gas service during this extremely cold weather."

Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Governor made a similar request on Wednesday night, urging residents of the Lower Peninsane to turn down their thermostat up to 65 degrees or less until Friday at noon, invoking "an extremely high demand for natural gas and an incident at a facility".

Authorizes West Washington Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin (Lauren Justice for the Washington Post)

According to the electricity supplier cards, nearly 13,500 customers suffered power outages in Wisconsin and in Iowa. Workers were striving to restore electricity in a race to keep homes and businesses warm in the cold freezing weather.

Most failures were resolved within hours.

About 900 customers of We Energies were deprived of electricity for about an hour and a half. Wednesday afternoon in West Allis, Wisconsin, after neighbors of a residential street heard a transformer sound and saw a spark just before the lights went out.

They closed their curtains to prevent cold air from getting around the windows and opening.

"I was amazed at how quickly they were recovered," said Dan Bark, whose house is located diagonally facing damaged power lines. "We were trying to find emergency plans."

He thinks of taking his family and cats to his mother's house nearby. Bark has a generator, but he was in the garage – and frozen. He conceded that it was not ideal, but that he had never seen the temperatures drop so low.

"It's the coldest it has ever been," said Bark.

Wang, Fritz and Horton were reported to Washington.

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