Snowstorm "Elliott" keeps the USA in suspense: 10,000 flights are canceled and hundreds of thousands of households are without electricity. The extreme winter weather costs at least 50 lives. While President Biden expresses his condolences to those affected, authorities warn of further snowstorms.
At least 50 people have died in the United States in recent days due to extreme cold and heavy snowfall. In the district of Erie County in the state of New York alone, 27 people died, as Marc Poloncarz, the district manager, announced on Twitter on Monday (local time). Nationwide, more than 51 people died in connection with Arctic winter storm Elliott, ABC reported. The broadcaster NBC even put the death toll at 56.
"My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones this holiday weekend," President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter. Kathy Hochul, the governor of the badly affected state of New York, spoke of a "historic snowstorm" and warned of further snowfalls in the city of Buffalo, where dozens of people have already died. "The storm is easing but we're not over the hill yet," she wrote on Twitter. She called on people not to take any risks and stay at home.
"Elliott" had brought meter-high snow, temperatures in the double-digit minus range and hurricane-force winds to large parts of the USA over the Christmas weekend. The region around the Great Lakes in the north-east of the USA and on the border with Canada was particularly affected. Hundreds of thousands of households were affected by power outages, according to the website Power Outage, almost 1.7 million people across the country were briefly without power on Saturday.
The Arctic cold front also messed up the Christmas plans of many travelers: According to the flight data website "FlightAware", more than 10,000 flights were canceled from Friday to Sunday, so that many residents had to stay in their houses covered in snow and ice.
