Cold wave rolls US during Christmas weekend EU asylum chief expects more asylum applications in Europe

Over the Christmas weekend, a violent winter storm swept across the United States, destroying much of the country and killing dozens of people. Temperatures were in the double digits in many regions. With icy winds and violent high-speed falls, the situation was life-threatening in places, especially in the region and around the Great Lakes region of the northeastern United States and on the border with Canada. Hundreds of thousands of homes were without power. For many people, storm “Elliott” brought Christmas under extreme conditions.

The storm hit the city of Buffalo, located on the shore of Lake Erie in the US state of New York, with all its might. Heavy snowfall and hurricane-force winds caused so-called white-out conditions on the roads, where drivers can lose their orientation due to the extremely limited visibility. Many people were trapped in their homes and cars. Sometimes the police and fire brigade could not respond to emergency calls. Authorities said seven people were killed in Erie County alone on Sunday. Rescuers helped with the birth of a child by telephone on Saturday, writes the New York Times.

The death toll continued to rise. American media reported on Sunday that significantly more than 30 people were killed by the winter storm. Based on its own count, broadcaster NBC even reported 41 deaths, broadcaster ABC at least 39. Rescuers and officials expected the number of victims to rise even further.

Television images showed streets with a thick layer of ice. Cars and trucks slid across the road, crashed into each other or went off the road.

Hundreds of thousands of households were affected by power outages this weekend. On Saturday morning (local time), more than 1.6 million households were temporarily without power, according to the PowerOutage website. The Arctic cold front also messed up many travelers’ Christmas plans: More than 10,000 flights were canceled from Friday to Sunday, according to flight data website FlightAware. Chaos reigned at many airports. Some are temporarily closed.

The effects of the cold snap were felt as far south as the United States. Given the temperature drop, the situation also became serious for migrants on the border with Mexico, many of whom are currently camping in the streets of the border towns. Many of them are awaiting the lifting of a controversial deportation scheme, which allows rapid deportation in connection with the corona pandemic. It was supposed to end last week. The US government had asked the US Supreme Court to postpone it until after Christmas.

The storm calmed somewhat in most states on Sunday. According to the US Weather Service, the center of the Arctic cold front shifted north and migrated into eastern Canada. Heavy snowfall and icy winds continued in the Great Lakes region.

The winter storm had gripped large parts of the US since the day before Christmas. More than 200 million people had received severe weather warnings. Several states had declared a state of emergency as a precaution, including New York. “Mother Nature is demanding everything she has to offer this weekend,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said. (sda/dpa)