Massive Snow Storm Still Troubles The U.S.
Due to the heavy snowing, many airports have cancelled their flights, as plows could not clea the snow in time (ctv.ca)
If yesterday we were talking about a huge snow storm, today we’re talking about maybe the worst blizzard in the past 40 years.
The blizzard hit the Midwest on Monday and yesterday, around a third of the U.S. population was literally covered in snow. If there had been only the snow, there wouldn’t have been a problem, but there was also sleet and wind and ice on the roads. Airports and schools were closed yesterday and at least the schools will state the same throughout today as well. If in Denver there were around six degrees below zero yesterday in the afternoon, in Oklahoma City, a state which is more used to tornadoes than to blizzards, the wind and the snowfall created white-out conditions and large drifts.
Airports were closed yesterday, because the plows couldn’t face the rapid snowfall and the visibility was highly reduced. For instance, the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport was closed for about 2 hours and a half yesterday, as thousands and thousands of fans were checking in for the Super Bowl. Furthermore, from the 5,400 flights which were cancelled ahead of the storm, more than 1,200 of the flights were in and out of Chicago-area airports. The Kansas City’s airport was also closed for hours. What’s more is that according to Gino Izzi, a weather service meteorologist in Illinois, the worst of the worst was between 9 p.m. last night and 5 a.m. this morning. During this period of time, traveling was virtually impossible, due to the harsh weather conditions.
As expected, the snowstorm took its biggest hit on Kansas City, where snow plows were taken off airports in the afternoon, because of the snow that was blowing and that made reduced visibility very much. The snow grew with an inch per hour and wind was blowing at around 40 mph, while temperatures dropped 25 degrees below zero. “This is the kind of blizzard we get every decade or two,” said Andy Bailey of the National Weather Service station in Pleasant Hill. He also said that if in Kansas was bad, east of there it was even worse, as more than 20 inches of snow buried cities like Boonville, Mo.. Moreover, parts of Oklahoma even saw more than 4 inches of snow per hour, which, according to Bailey, that was as hard as it could possibly snow. In contrast, in St. Louis, where people got ready to face maybe one of the worst snow storms they had in decades, the situation was not as bad as they had imagined, and the snow rose at no greater height than 10 inches.
In what concerns schools being closed, Chicago was famous for its never-closing schools. That was up till yesterday, when schools across the storm’s path, from Denver through Ohio were closed and they are to stay like that until probably tomorrow. If in the morning, Chicago had time to get all it needed to face the upcoming storm, by 2.30 p.m. the snow had started falling hard on them and according to the National Weather Service, Chicago could get its biggest blizzard in more than 4 decades. Moreover, there are expected very low temperature and the wind to blow with more than 40 mph.. Specialized shops in Chicago were out of ice-melt spread, snow blowers and generators, which means that people took really seriously these harsh weather conditions. The situation for New York City seems to be fine, as the snow and the freezing rain along with the sleet are said to last only up till today. However, the scenery does not look as good as we may imagine. “It’s far from a picturesque scene. It’s an icy, wet mess,” said meteorologist John Davitt of local NY1 television.
Like it was yesterday, today people are also asked to stay at home and avoid traveling by car or by any means, for that matter, especially in the Kansas City area. Even the airport closed here (an airport which never closes!) and there were around 260 cancelled flights and around 400 in St. Louis. In matters of public transportation also, the Kansas City metro along with one third of the buses had a delay of more than an hour, given the weather conditions. “It’s really bad out there,” said 7-Eleven customer James Summers in Independence, who was buying up enough bread, peanuts and cigarettes to make sure he’s satisfied all though the snow storm. “The city is trying to clear the streets, but the snow is beating the plows.” And that was true, snow plows were more focused on main streets during the afternoon, because those were the most affected areas. The wind was the factor that made things worst. Kansas City has seen big snow storms, but this one seems to be really hard on them and that’s because of the hard-blowing wind that spread the snow all over the place, making both traffic and visibility almost impossible.
Furthermore, the blizzard is making its way through the country by “force.” In Chicago, the roof panels of Wrigley Fields blew off. The debris was spread all around the Ball Park and police officers tried to keep the situation under control. But that was only the beginning, because throughout the night, people expected the snowfall to be 3 or 4 inches per hour. If you are in one of the areas affected by the snowstorm, make sure you follow these safety tips: first, take care of yourself and make sure you are warmly dressed and try not to go outside unless you really have to; secondly, take care of your house – given that the snow storm is so fierce, power can go out and if you have a generator, make sure you vent the exhaust, if you don’t have a generator, make sure you have many blankets around you; thirdly, take care of your vehicle by checking the antifreeze level and the windshield wipers, plus make sure you gave your tank full with gas.
It’s been three days already since this horrible snow storm hit the U.S., but beside the 61-year-old woman who died on Monday due to the icy roads, hospital officials said that injury rates were normal, given the weather: most people presented to the hospital with a sprayed ankle or with wrist and hip injuries. In what concerns the homeless people in Kansas City, they were taken care of and given a shelter throughout the storm in the Kansas City Rescue Mission – around 250 people are there now.
Although this is probably transformed into one of the worst blizzards the Midwest has seen in the last decades, hopefully things will go back to normal as soon as possible and people will get to enjoy the snow. Officials are doing everything they can to create normal conditions for traffic, especially for those who want to get to the Super Bowl.
