Polar Vortex Hits US states With Deadly cold
Cities are
all but shutting down across the US Midwest as the region shivers through a
deadly cold snap known as a polar vortex.
At least six
people have been killed in several states as a result of the arctic weather.
Temperatures
fell to -30C (-22F) in Chicago - colder than parts of Antarctica - and -37C in
North Dakota.
Freezing
weather will chill 250 million Americans, and 90 million will experience -17C
(0F) or below.
Snow is
expected to fall throughout Wednesday, from the Great Lakes region into New
England. As much as 24in (60cm) is forecast in the state of Wisconsin, and 6in
in Illinois.
States of
emergency have been declared in Midwestern Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois,
and even in the normally warmer Deep South states of Alabama and Mississippi.
"This
could possibly be history-making," said Ricky Castro, a National Weather
Service (NWS) meteorologist in Illinois.
The NWS is
warning frostbite is possible within just 10 minutes of being outside in such
extreme temperatures.
Grand Forks,
North Dakota, has seen the lowest wind chill so far at -54C on Wednesday
morning.
Twenty
million people in the continental US will experience temperatures of -28C or
lower by the week's end.
A man was
killed by a snow plough in Chicago and another man froze to death in a
Milwaukee garage.
An
82-year-old man died from hypothermia outside his home in Pekin,
Illinois, NBC News reported.
Roads made
dangerous by ice and snow have also caused fatal accidents - a young couple
died after a collision on snowy roads in northern Indiana.
The US
Postal Service has called a halt to mail deliveries in parts of 10 states in
the Great Plains and Midwest.
Hundreds of
schools, as well as colleges and universities, have been closed in the affected
states.
Beer
deliveries in Wisconsin have been hit, too, as brewers delay shipments for fear
their beverages will freeze in the trucks.
Weather
officials in the state of Iowa have warned people to "avoid taking deep
breaths, and to minimise talking" if they go outside.
Farmers
across the Midwest have been taking measures to protect their livestock,
including building igloos for chickens.
In North
Dakota, cattle ranchers Joey Myers and Scott Bailey told Reuters news agency
they planned on staying up with their animals during the cold snap to prevent
fatalities.
Frigid
weather could cause pregnant cows to deliver prematurely, the farmers said, and
newborn calves cannot survive such conditions.
Animal
rights organisation Peta has warned people to bring animals indoors.
But police
in the Illinois county of McLean had some fun, announcing that Elsa from the
Disney movie Frozen had been arrested.
Residents of
America's third largest city are no strangers to perishing cold, but they have
been warned to expect an unusually dangerous freeze.
Chicago has
seen more than 1,500 flights cancelled from its two main airports, and rail
operator Amtrak has scrapped train services from its hub there.
With the icy
breeze whipping off Lake Michigan, the Windy City will feel more like -45C.
Chicago
mayor Rahm Emanuel urged people not to go outside if possible.
Dozens of
"warming centres" have been opened for the estimated 80,000 rough
sleepers there.
But at least
one homeless Chicago man said he preferred to take his chances outdoors.
Tony
Neeley told the New York Times: "A lot of us don't go to the shelters
because of bedbugs. We don't go because people steal from you.
"We
don't go because you can't even really sleep in the shelter."
The Illinois
city's landmarks, including the Lincoln Park Zoo, Field Museum and Art
Institute, are all shut.
A number of
coffee shops and other local businesses have closed and even some of its famous
deep-dish pizza parlours are closing early.
Chicago
police say people are being robbed at gunpoint of their coats, especially those
wearing Canada Goose jackets, which can cost as much as $1,100 (£900).
The bitterly
cold conditions are the result of a spinning pool of cold air known as the
polar vortex.
It normally
circles the stratosphere over the North Pole, but its current has been
disrupted and it is now moving south into the US.
Forecasters
are attributing this to a sudden warming above the North Pole, caused by a
blast of hot air from Morocco last month.
This weather
system split the polar vortex and caused it to drift south, Judah Cohen, a
winter storm expert for Atmospheric Environmental Research, told AP news
agency.
President
Donald Trump, who has questioned whether humans are responsible for climate
change, tweeted about the conditions.
"What
the hell is going on with Global Waming [sic]?" he said. "Please come
back fast, we need you!"
But one of
the US government's own meteorological agencies, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, posted what was widely interpreted as a rebuttal to
the president.. The world's leading scientists have said that climate change is
primarily human-induced and can lead to harsher winters.
FROM .bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-
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