Source : WAM
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday labelled the winter storms sweeping across large parts of the United States as “historic”, as weather officials cautioned that record-breaking cold and potentially “catastrophic” damage could occur.
The extreme conditions have knocked out power for more than one million people and forced the cancellation of over 10,000 flights in the past two days.
Heavy snowfall, freezing rain and dangerously low temperatures brought much of the eastern and southern United States to a standstill, with the storm system stretching across nearly two-thirds of the country.
According to PowerOutage, electricity outages continued to increase, with at least 330,000 customers affected in Tennessee, and more than 100,000 without power in both Mississippi and Louisiana. Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, West Virginia and Alabama were also impacted.
Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported that more than 10,800 flights were cancelled on Sunday, following over 4,000 cancellations the previous day.
Trump authorised federal emergency disaster declarations for several states and said officials would stay in close coordination with communities in the storm’s path, urging Americans to “stay safe and stay warm”.
The Department of Homeland Security said states of emergency had been declared in 17 states and Washington, DC, while the National Weather Service warned the storm could be unusually extensive and prolonged.
