Millions of Americans took shelter on Sunday as a ‘major winter storm’, according to the weather services, hit the eastern United States with its share of snow and ice, causing power outages involving at least 235,000 people.
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The heaviest part of the storm is expected to take place in the evening. “A major winter storm will hit the eastern United States between Sunday and Monday,” the National Weather Service (NWS) warned, indicating that up to 30 centimeters of snow could cover an area that extends from Tennessee and Georgia. , in the Southeast, Vermont and New York State, in the Northeast, with strong winds and freezing rain.
Winds could be hurricane-force on the Atlantic coast, the NWS warned.
Transport has already been severely disrupted. Thousands of flights have been canceled and part of Interstate I95 closed in North Carolina.
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Motorists have been warned of “hazardous road conditions” and heavy congestion from Arkansas (south) to Maine (northeast).
“Arctic air already in place in the central and eastern United States will combine with this dynamic system to create a thick layer of more than 30 centimeters of snow,” according to the NWS.
Florida (southeast), more accustomed to good weather even at this time of year, was indirectly affected when several tornadoes accompanied by snow, caused by this winter storm caused property damage and caused coastal flooding on Sunday , according to the Weather Channel.
From North and South Carolina up the Appalachians, ice and gusts complicate the situation.
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The winter weather alert affects more than 80 million people, according to US media.
Some 2,900 domestic or international flights were canceled by mid-afternoon on Sunday, according to the FlightAware website, and around 2,400 were delayed.
About 235,000 people had no power in the Southeast, including more than 150,000 in the Carolinas, according to PowerOutage.us.
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In Georgia, another state among the most affected, Governor Brian Kemp had declared a state of emergency on Friday, and snowplows were at work before noon to clear the roads. Mild Atlanta has seen snowfall.
Virginia and North Carolina have also declared states of emergency. More than 30 cm of snow fell on the latter state, according to the weather channel.
The northeastern United States had already found snow in early January, covered with a white coat up to 30 cm thick. Hundreds of motorists had been stranded for nearly 20 hours on a major axis linking the capital Washington.
The storm is expected to reach eastern Canada on Tuesday, the NWS estimates.