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Polar vortex: eight dead as Arctic air spreads across
midwest
Thousands of flights canceled, schools close, and post
office halts deliveries as Chicago lows approach record
Jessica Glenza in New York and agencies
@JessicaGlenza
Thu 31 Jan 2019 01.50 GMT First published on Wed 30 Jan 2019
14.01 GMT
Frozen Arctic winds brought record-low temperatures across
much of the US midwest on Wednesday, as a blast of Arctic air known as the
polar vortex unnerved residents accustomed to brutal winters.
As of Wednesday evening, at least eight deaths were linked
to the system, including an elderly Illinois man who was found several hours
after he fell trying to get into his home and a University of Iowa student
found behind an academic hall several hours before dawn. A man was struck by a
snowplow in the Chicago area, a young couple’s SUV struck another on a snowy
road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man froze to death in a garage,
authorities said.
Classes were canceled Wednesday and Thursday in many cities,
including Chicago, home of the country’s third-largest school system, and
police warned of the risk of accidents on icy highways.
In a rare move, the US Postal Service appeared to
temporarily set aside its credo that “neither snow nor rain ... nor gloom of
night” would stop its work: it halted deliveries from parts of the Dakotas
through Ohio.
Temperatures in Chicago dropped to a low of around -23F
(-30C) on Wednesday, slightly above the city’s lowest-ever reading, from
January 1985. With the wind chill factor, temperatures in Los Angeles felt
about 100F warmer than Chicago on Wednesday morning.
Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the service, said the
some of the coldest wind chills were recorded in International Falls,
Minnesota, at -55F (-48C). Even the south pole was warmer, with an expected low
of -24F (-31C) with wind chill.
Temperatures in Chicago were expected to tumble again into
the -20s fahrenheit (-30s celsius) early Thursday. Some isolated areas could
see as low as -40F (-40C), according to the National Weather Service. Daytime
highs could climb into the single digits before warming up to the comparatively
balmy 20s (-7 to -2 celsius) by Friday.
In many cities, concern is especially acute for homeless
people who may have nowhere to stay. Advocates said there are rarely enough
shelter beds for all homeless people.
“I’m cold and I’m afraid,” Tony Neeley, a homeless Chicago
resident, told the New York Times Tuesday evening. The mayor of Lansing,
Michigan reported shelters in his city were becoming “overloaded,” and a senior
advisor to the mayor of Detroit worried anyone who refused help would “freeze
or lose a limb”, according to the Detroit News.
Many cities opened warming shelters in government buildings,
churches, high schools and charities. At the same time, powerful wind gusts
have brought down tree limbs and knocked out power as temperatures began to
fall. In Indiana, trees downed power lines as temperatures hit -10F.
Some people shared pictures of their pet’s multi-layered
winter outfits, and reminded people to bring pets inside.
At least 2,700 flights were canceled nationwide on
Wednesday, largely in Chicago’s two main airports. Another 1,800 flights
scheduled for Thursday were also called off.
Amtrak said it had canceled all trains in and out of the
city, where Hurley forecast -15F on Wednesday and a record-low -27F on
Thursday. In New York, interstates are closed to trucks for fear of invisible
“black ice”. Government offices are closed in New Jersey as the western part of
the state.
Lake Michigan like a
'boiling cauldron' as temperatures plummet in Chicago – video
The bitter cold is being carried by the polar vortex, an
area of low pressure which spins counterclockwise in the stratospheres over the
north and south poles. The current of this low pressure area has been disrupted
and is now pushing south.
Advised to stay home, some Americans are taking the cold in
their stride. One Wisconsin woman filled balloons with water and food coloring
on her porch railing, to make icy colored orbs. Some set soda cans outside and
filmed as the cold caused them to explode.
In Buffalo, New York, intense cold and snow storms combined
Tuesday evening to produce whiteout conditions. Dashcam footage from one
trucker taken outside Grand Rapids, Michigan gave a snapshot of hair-raising
driving conditions.
“I about just got
caught in a giant wreck; cars are into other pickups, there’s people hurt. I
gotta let you go,” Jason Coffelt is heard saying in an Instagram posting dated
Tuesday, as his truck is forced off the highway and pulls up just before a
multi-vehicle accident.
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