Flights canceled in Canada. Snow deprives half a million families of electricity in South Korea
A strong winter storm causes power cuts in 23 US states
A man tries to remove snow from a sidewalk in downtown Detroit due to a winter storm.
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Travelers wait at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport as snow falls.
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A powerful winter storm has battered much of the United States, causing power outages in more than 20 states, canceling 6,000 flights nationwide, closing schools and public offices, disrupting road traffic, and threatening package delays this holiday season.
While heavy snow left half a million households without electricity in South Korea, a winter storm hit Canada, causing flights to be canceled ahead of Christmas.
In detail, Bloomberg News quoted the US National Weather Service as saying that since early morning, Friday, more than 200 million people in about 60% of the country have been exposed to severe winter weather.
The authority said that heavy snow is expected to cover the Great Lakes region, parts of northern New York and New England, with a wave of severe cold heading towards Pennsylvania and the Appalachian Mountains, a wide mountain range that extends in the eastern parts of the North American continent parallel to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. .
"It's a very large, widespread storm," said Rich Otto, a meteorologist at the US Weather Forecasting Center. "It's the type of storm that happens every 20 to 30 years."
And the US meteorological agencies described the storm as "historic", as it was punctuated by heavy snowfall, polar winds, and a drop in temperature to 48 degrees below zero in some places.
Warnings and advisories have been issued to more than 240 million people, or 70% of Americans in the United States.
This phenomenon led to chaos in the transportation sector, while millions of Americans invaded roads and airports to travel in the festive season at the end of the year.
About 1.5 million homes were deprived of electricity on Friday, especially in North Carolina, Maine and Virginia, according to the specialized website "Power-Autage".
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As of Friday evening, about a million of these homes were without electricity.
The storm hit a wide area extending from the Canadian border in the north to the Mexican border in the south.
Several states declared states of emergency, including New York, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina.
Visibility was almost non-existent, while the roads became very dangerous due to frost and ice.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in statements to CNN, warning that one should stay at home and not take risks on the roads.
He confirmed that three people died on the roads of Kentucky.
This storm, rare in its intensity, was caused by the collision of two air masses, one very cold from the Arctic, and the other tropical from the Gulf of Mexico, exacerbated by a very rapid decrease in atmospheric pressure in less than 24 hours.
The Buffalo Department of Meteorology said this type of storm only happens once in a generation.
The snow storm that swept across most of the United States is expected to make the coldest Christmas Eve ever in cities from Pennsylvania to Florida.
In South Korea, heavy snow in the provinces of Jeolla, Chungcheong and Jeju Island caused damage to 152 facilities and cut off power to 567 families, according to preliminary estimates.
The Ministry of the Interior stated that there were no reports of casualties as a result of the heavy snowfall and cold wave, but dozens of agricultural buildings, homes and shops were damaged, according to the South Korean broadcasting network, KBS World.
There was also a power outage in Pyeongchang and Wonju counties in Gangwon Province on Friday, affecting hundreds of families, while on the roads, 44 traffic accidents were reported.
Strong winds, icy rain and heavy snowfall caused the closure of schools in Canada, the cutting off of electricity to homes, and the cancellation of many flights, after a severe winter storm swept across the country, prompting the Canadian authorities to urge citizens to stay in their homes before the weather conditions worsen. more.
About two-thirds of Canadians are expected to be affected by the storm, said Steve Flesveder, a meteorologist at Environment Canada, as it crosses the country's two most populous regions, Ontario and Quebec, on its way to the Atlantic.
WestJet Airlines, Canada's second largest airline, pre-emptively canceled all its flights at Toronto, Ottawa and Quebec airports, due to bad weather.
Canada's largest carrier, Air Canada, also warned of delays and cancellations.
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