America: Polar Storm Kills 35 People and Drowns 3 Children in Frozen Pond
The United States is experiencing an unprecedented state of emergency with a severe cold wave, resulting in at least 35 fatalities, while three young siblings, aged 6, 8, and 9, lost their lives after falling into a frozen pond in Texas, as confirmed by Vanin County Sheriff Cody Shock.
The violent winter storm has caused power outages for more than 600thousand homes and the cancellation of over 19thousand flights since last Saturday, and has paralyzed land and air transportation in dozens of states, including the capital Washington.
In the northern part of the country, temperatures have dropped to below 30 degrees Celsius below zero in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, while the weather service predicts that the wind chill in the central part of the country could drop to 45 degrees Celsius below zero in the coming days.
Estimates indicate that heavy snowfall, exceeding 30 centimeters in about 20 states, has caused power lines to fall, with 200thousand people in Tennessee and more than 147thousand in Mississippi still experiencing outages. Authorities are facing significant challenges in snow removal and damage repair, especially in southern areas unaccustomed to such weather conditions, according to meteorologist Allison Santorelli.
The storm, linked to what is known as the "polar vortex," has extended southward causing severe disruptions, and scientists suspect that the increase in such phenomena is related to climate change, although the scientific debate on the cause is not yet settled.
