Bitter winter storm bites hard in US
The central United States was gripped Wednesday by a huge winter storm that has closed major highways and grounded thousands of flights.
Issued on: Modified:
The weather system, which the space agency Nasa says is one the largest winter storms in 60 years stretches from Texas in the south to Maine in the north-east. A third of the nation’s population are believed to be affected.
The National Weather Service says the storm is moving west and has warned people not to travel.
“Travel will be dangerous and life-threatening due to dramatically reduced visibilities and bitter cold wind chills,” it said.
Wind chills were forecast to drop to -50 degrees in Colarado, Wyoming, Utah, the Dakotas, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and parts of Texas.
A state of emergency has been declared in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Oklahoma where snow has already hit hard.
More than 10,000 flights have been grounded since Tuesday when the blizzard hit and some state highways are snow-covered with large stretches impassable.
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