Washington DC: Icy storm and winter weather wreaks havoc in the United States. Storms have turned roads into icy death traps, killed people from Oregon to Tennessee, and even sent a jet skidding off a taxiway are due to wreak havoc on both coasts again on Friday.
New York City, which had only seen snow for the first time in more than two years on Tuesday, was in the spotlight as the National Weather Service issued warnings of 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm) of snow through Friday across the state and areas of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
After departing from Philadelphia on Thursday, an American Airlines plane in Rochester, New York, slipped off a snowy taxiway. There were no reports of injuries.
On the West Coast, the governor of Oregon proclaimed a statewide emergency on Thursday night in response to numerous counties’ pleas for assistance “as they enter the sixth day of severe impacts” caused by the meteorological conditions characterized by freezing rain.
Storms have pounded most of the United States with rain, snow, wind, and freezing temperatures over the previous two weeks, delaying transportation and air travel and killing at least 45 people.
Portland Public Schools canceled classes for the fourth day in a row due to worries about slippery roadways and building water damage, while state offices in Portland were also closed Friday.
An ice storm devastated sections of the Willamette Valley in Oregon on Saturday, leaving thousands of people without electricity.
More than 9 inches (22.8 cm) of snow has fallen in portions of Nashville since Sunday, an area that never experiences such accumulations, leading authorities to blame the system for at least 14 deaths in Tennessee. The seven states that the Tennessee Valley Authority serves saw their highest electricity demand ever when temperatures dropped below zero (minus 17.7 Celsius) in certain areas of the state.
Since unusually cold weather began last week, more than 60 oil spills and other environmental issues have been reported in North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields, where officials say wind chills as low as minus 70 degrees (minus 56.6 degrees Celsius) have taxed workers and equipment, increasing the likelihood of mishaps.
Five people in Washington State died from exposure to cold in just four days last week in Seattle, when temperatures dropped to well below freezing, according to the medical examiner’s office.
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