Austin, Texas residents push their cars through the snow on Feb. 15.
Severe winter storms have hit the United States for days, causing icy roads and traffic disruptions, killing at least 15 people and putting more than 200 million people under weather-related alerts. Texas was hit the hardest, with 4 million homes and businesses hit by power outages.
The devastating winter storm will move through the northeastern United States on Tuesday, CNN reported. The low-pressure system is already having a deadly impact. At least 15 people have died in weather-related crashes since the cold snap began, and in Oklahoma alone, 123 people were hospitalized Monday for weather-related injuries.
Across the United States, 2,281 flights were canceled Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com.
ABC reports that nearly 40 states are under an ice and severe cold advisory. About 70.4 percent of the nation is covered in snow.
Vaccination sites have been closed and traffic has come to a standstill in affected areas in the South, but the disaster is not over and a second storm is approaching.
Record low temperatures could occur in nearly 200 areas
Unusually low temperatures are expected to touch nearly every corner of the United States. Seattle reported more than 11 inches of snowfall over the weekend, the most since January 1972. Parts of Wyoming have received more than 50 inches of snow in the past few days.
The National Weather Service says dangerous wind chills have been reported in eastern Colorado and western Kansas. On Sunday night (Feb. 14), temperatures were -42 degrees Fahrenheit near Yuma, Colorado, and -25 degrees Fahrenheit near Norton, Kansas, due to the wind chill effect.
More than 6 inches of snow fell from eastern Texas to Ohio, with some areas receiving more than a foot of snow. The heavy snow system will leave the New England area Tuesday night, reaching downwind areas of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
By then, nearly 200 additional cold temperature records could be broken.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, “This cold snap is forecast to result in record low temperatures comparable to the historic cold snaps of February 1899 and 1905.”
Pictured is a scene of icy shrubs in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 15.
At least 3 dead after tornadoes hit North Carolina
First responders are scrambling to find people trapped in their homes after a tornado struck the town of Grissettown, N.C., where at least three people died.
“It’s a scene like I’ve never seen before. A lot of destruction. It’s going to be a long recovery process.” Brunswick County (N.C.) Sheriff John Ingram said at a news conference earlier Tuesday. The tornado struck the area around the town of Grissettown just after midnight Monday.
The tornado destroyed homes, downed power lines and left thousands of people without power. Authorities said at least 10 people were injured and others were trapped in their homes.
Ingram said the search for the missing people is ongoing and will intensify during the day. He asked people to avoid the area as rescuers work to clear the streets and search for victims.
4 million homes and businesses in Texas without power
Nearly four million homes and businesses were affected by power outages early Tuesday in Texas, where temperatures dropped to single digits overnight, Fox News reported.
The website Poweroutage.us, which tracks power outages, reported that more than 1 million homes in the Houston area were without power.
CNN said more than 200 million people across the U.S. are under some form of weather-related alert due to the severe weather, and CNN meteorologist Tyler Mauldin said the storm is expected to move out through the Northeast late Tuesday, bringing heavy snow and freezing ice during that Time.
Temperatures are expected to rise as it moves, but record cold weather will continue through Saturday, Mauldin said.
In Houston, police say a woman and a girl died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in a Home without electricity.
A warning sign stands on a snow-covered road in Houston, Feb. 15.
Law enforcement also reported that two men were found dead on a Houston-area roadway. The cause of death has not been determined, but officials said sub-freezing temperatures may have been the cause of death.
As of Tuesday morning, more than two hundred locations along Houston-area roadways were covered in ice and “unsuitable for travel,” according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
On Feb. 15, a winter storm hit Texas with historically rare low temperatures, leaving Houston roads covered in snow and ice and no one walking on them.
The Louisiana Department of health announced the state’s first storm-related death Monday evening, when a 50-year-old Lafayette Parish resident was killed after slipping on ice and touching his head to the ground.
Two people were killed in two separate crashes in Kentucky on Monday.
Northern New England will also be hit by additional snow and ice, with 6 to 10 inches of snow expected by Tuesday afternoon.
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