Deadly Freeze Hits Northern US, Eastern Canada

Local Editor

A fierce winter storm has caused chaos in the United States since the start of the year, killing 11 people, canceling thousands of flights and bringing freezing temperatures to Canada.

Northeastern US states felt the biggest impact, with more than 24 inches (of snow falling in parts of a Massachusetts town and a state of emergency being declared in New York and New Jersey.

Four people were killed on Friday, with one worker crushed by a 100-foot [pile of salt] being prepared to treat roads in the Philadelphia area, media reports said.

A 71-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease froze to death after walking out into the cold and getting lost in northern New York state, authorities said.

At least nine other deaths were blamed on the storm - named Hercules - that caused traffic accidents and other disruption across 22 states and also affected parts of Canada.

In the Quebec region, the temperature was -20 Fahrenheit [-29 Celsius] on Friday, having hit a record low of -29 Fahrenheit a day earlier, while the mercury dropped to -47.2 Fahrenheit in Parent, 400 kilometers north of Montreal. The plains of Manitoba were feeling lows of -58 Fahrenheit.
Hercules closed major roads for several hours with snowdrifts built up by Arctic winds of up to 65 miles per hour.

Weather experts said the wind chill would plummet to -13 Fahrenheit in New York state.

More than 4,200 international and domestic flights were canceled at airports along the East Coast and as far as Chicago on Thursday night and Friday. Thousands more were delayed.
New York's John F Kennedy Airport closed for several hours because of poor visibility and high winds.

Flights were also canceled at Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and other key airports.
Boston woke up to a temperature of about three degrees Fahrenheit but with the wind chill, it felt much worse.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team