New Orleans hit by rare snowstorm

More than 17 centimeters of snow fell in New Orleans on Tuesday. The city’s main airport canceled its flights.

A white blanket covered New Orleans on Tuesday after the heaviest snowfall in decades in this southern US city. Half the country is frozen by a wind coming from the Arctic.

Authorities are warning of the risks of frostbite and hypothermia in regions unaccustomed to negative temperatures. In New Orleans, more than 17 centimeters of snow fell Tuesday, the largest single-day fall since 1948.

On Bourbon Street, the city’s tourist and festive artery, tourists and residents engaged in snowball fights, unusual images.

The main airport in Louisiana’s largest city, which is used to hurricanes rather than snowstorms, canceled flights, as did other airports in Florida and Texas.

“Dangerous cold weather”

In some parts of the country, temperatures plunged more than 17 degrees below seasonal averages, causing closures of airports, schools, health centers and roads, particularly due to icy conditions.

More than 170 million people, out of a population of some 330 million in the United States, are affected by the icy wind that forced US President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Monday to be held inside the Capitol and not outside, as tradition dictates.

The US weather service said on Tuesday that “dangerous cold weather” was expected “over most of the country”, warning of the risk of winter storms and record temperatures in the southern United States. (ats)

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