The arctic blast that blanketed most of the nation earlier this week is now reported as responsible for over 40 deaths, knocked out power that still hasn’t been restored to hundreds of thousands in the South and crippled travel across the country.
At Least 42 People Have Died So Far
As the Associated Press (AP) reports, at least 42 deaths have been attributed to the storm nationwide.
As ABC News reports, in Fannin County, Texas, north of Dallas, three brothers died after falling into an icy pond, officials said. In Frisco, Texas, near Dallas, a 16-year-old girl died from a sledding accident, according to Frisco police. The victim and another girl were being pulled on a sled by a teenage boy driving a car when the sled struck a curb and then hit a tree, police said. In the Austin area, a victim was found dead in the parking lot of an abandoned gas station from apparent hypothermia, officials said.
In Arkansas, a 17-year-old boy died after he was pulled by an ATV in the snow and struck a tree, according to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office. In Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, three people died while removing snow, the county coroner said. The victims ranged in age from 60 to 84, the coroner said, adding, “I remind the public to use caution when shovel snow … especially individuals with a history of heart disease or other medical concerns.”
Eight people died in New York City and a retired police officer died on Long Island while shoveling snow, according to New York ABC station WABC. Another man was found dead with a shovel in his hand in Verona, New Jersey, according to local police. In Massachusetts, a woman died after a snowplow backed into her in a parking lot, local officials said.
And storm-related deaths have also been reported in Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kansas, Ohio and South Carolina, according to officials.
Carbon Monoxide Exposure and Poisoning Cases Reported
In Nashville, Tennessee, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has treated 46 children for carbon monoxide exposure since Sunday, hospital officials said. The cases come as many families try to heat their homes during power outages caused by downed powerlines and fallen trees.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas and carbon monoxide poisoning can be fatal. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include dizziness, headaches, nausea and confusion. To avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, never use generators or grills near open windows or vents, and make sure your battery-powered carbon monoxide detectors are working.
More than 500,000 Customers Are Still Without Power
More than 500,000 customers are still without power, with the worst outages in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. At least 173,997 customers were without power in Tennessee, 140,375 customers in Mississippi, 99,614 customers in Louisiana and 28,072 in Kentucky, PowerOutage.us said.
Also without power were 27,920 customers in Texas, 14,132 in South Carolina, 12,984 in Georgia, 10,412 in Virginia, 6,506 in West Virginia and 4,794 in Florida.
The Nashville Electric Service — which as of Monday was the hardest-hit utility in the country according to PowerOutage.us — said it planned to “double its workforce” to respond to the outages. Public schools in Nashville, Tennessee, will remain closed Wednesday and Thursday as the city grapples with massive power outages, officials said.
Most Flight Cancellations in American Airlines History
American Airlines said this was the most disruptive storm in the airline’s 100-year history. American has canceled more than 9,000 flights and expects impacts to be felt for two more days.
American said 25% of its Tuesday flights are canceled. Across the U.S., more than 2,000 flights are canceled on Tuesday, with Dallas, Boston and New York hit the hardest.
Over 11,000 flights were canceled on Sunday, marking the highest day for cancellations since the pandemic, according to Cirium data.
And Now Another Storm is On the Way
While people still try to recover, dig out, and deal with continuing dangerously frigid temperatures amid ongoing power outages, as USA Today reports, parts of the East Coast could be looking at another significant winter storm by the weekend, in addition to the snow, ice and extreme cold that is already gripping much of the country.
A variety of weather models show the possibility of a storm on the weekend of Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Given the cold temperatures that will already be in place, a developing low pressure system along the coast could bring more snow, sleet or rain to places that experienced the winter storm that cleared out on Jan. 26, Santorelli said.
“Right now it’s impossible to determine where the storm will set up, where the precipitation could fall and what kind of precipitation it might be,” Santorelli said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty on where it tracks and how much precipitation parts of the East might get.”
Early indications from the models indicate portions of the Gulf Coast and East Coast could begin experiencing some effects of the next storm as soon as Friday, Jan. 30, according to forecasters at AccuWeather. “How fast the storm strengthens will be a determining factor in the final track of the storm this weekend and whether or not it moves up the East Coast,” said Paul Pasterok, AccuWeather’s long range outlook expert.
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