A severe winter storm plunged the central and eastern United States into snow and ice on Monday, disrupting traffic, depriving many homes of electricity and leading to flight cancellations. This information was reported by our colleagues from Anadolu.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued winter storm warnings covering a wide area from Kansas and Missouri to New Jersey. Some regions are expected to experience snowfall of an intensity not seen in a decade.
According to PowerOutage.us, about 300,000 homes were experiencing power outages early Monday, affecting states including Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois and Missouri. Indiana mobilized its National Guard to rescue motorists stranded by snow and ice on major roads.
The storm led to the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights nationwide, particularly affecting airports in the Washington region, according to data read on the Anadolu website. At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 239 flights were canceled, while Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport had 109 cancellations.
Washington, DC, and Baltimore anticipated snow accumulations of up to 30 cm. In response, federal offices and schools were closed; states of emergency were declared. Nearly 250 snow plows were deployed by Washington authorities, as Sharon Kershbaum of the Department of Transportation told ABC.
If more than 21.1 cm of snow accumulates in the capital, this storm will be the most severe since 2016, the year of a record with 45.2 cm of snow. This situation exposes a vulnerability that Senegal could also experience, especially during periods of intense rain, where infrastructure can be severely tested.
