At least one person was missing on Monday after devastating floods across the US Midwest that killed three others and inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in what Nebraska's governor called a disaster of historic proportions.
As floodwaters began to recede in much of the area inundated by the aftermath of a storm dubbed a "bomb cyclone," Nebraska officials were taking in the damage in a state where 64 of the 93 counties have declared emergencies.
"This is clearly the most widespread disaster we have had in our state's history," in terms of sheer size, Governor Pete Ricketts told reporters on an afternoon briefing call.
State officials said on the call that 290 people had been rescued by the Nebraska State Patrol, National Guard troops, and urban search and rescue teams.
Damage to the state's livestock sector was estimated at about $400 million, while the full impact on the spring planting season was not yet clear, said Steve Wellman, director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.
The state's highway system suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, said Kyle Schneweis, director of the state Department of Transportation, with more than 200 miles of roadways needing repair or replacement. Some 540 miles of highways remained closed, he said, down from 1,500 at the peak of flooding.
The three known fatalities included an 80-year-old woman who perished at her Columbus, Nebraska, home, despite attempts to rescue her from rising floodwaters, said Colonel John Bolduc of the Nebraska State Patrol.
Bolduc said a young man from Norfolk, Nebraska, was swept away and killed after driving his car into moving water, and a Columbus man died when the tractor he was using to help free a stranded driver overturned.
One person was missing and presumed dead following the collapse of the Spencer Dam along Niobrara River in southwest Nebraska, Buldoc said.
VICE PRESIDENT TO VISIT
The Missouri River, the longest in North America, has flooded much of Nebraska between Omaha and Kansas City at the Missouri state line.
The river was expected to crest at 47.5 feet (14.48 m) on Tuesday, breaking the previous record, set in 2011, by more than a foot, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said in the latest bulletin on its web page.
Ricketts said he had requested emergency assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and been in contact with the Trump administration.
Vice President Mike Pence would travel to Nebraska on Tuesday to survey the damage, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Twitter. Ricketts and Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds have both declared states of emergency
The Missouri River's overflowing banks cut off roads leading to the Cooper nuclear plant, near Brownville, Nebraska, forcing operators to fly in staff and supplies by helicopter. The plant continued to operate safely, its operator said.
Water also covered one-third of that state's Offutt Air Force Base, near Bellevue, home to the US Strategic Command.
At least 30 buildings were flooded by up to eight feet of water and 30 more structures damaged on the base, the Omaha World-Herald reported, citing a base spokeswoman.
The National Weather Service reported some of the region's larger rivers were running at record high levels, causing levee breaks. Some small towns and communities have been cut off by floods while others were short of fresh drinking water.
Streets in Lincoln, Nebraska's capital, were barely visible as high water surrounded homes, cars and trees, according to photos released to Reuters by state authorities. Elsewhere in the state, one highway near Waterloo was submerged, and piles of debris and damaged roads were visible in Niobrara.
Floodwater climbed up the sides of buildings at Camp Ashland, an Army National Guard facility in Ashland, Nebraska.
Warmer temperatures will speed the pace of snow melt across the region and add to already swollen rivers, the NWS said, possibly forcing more evacuations in communities along the Missouri River on the Nebraska and Iowa border, as well as along the Elkhorn and Platte rivers in Nebraska.
"There could be issues across portions of Nebraska and Kansas for the next seven days," NWS meteorologist Jim Hayes said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
NEW YORK - The eastern United States and Canada shivered under record-breaking low temperatures Saturday as Arctic blasts followed a deadly winter storm that left airports struggling to cope with the backlog of flights.
In Canada, temperatures approaching minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit) were forecast in northern Ontario and Quebec.
Arctic air and dangerously cold wind chills could bring temperatures that feel as low as minus 45 Fahrenheit across much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States, with the risk of frostbite to exposed skin within 10 minutes, authorities warned.
The big chill follows a winter storm, dubbed a "bomb cyclone" by forecasters, which has been blamed for at least 19 deaths in the United States, from Texas to Wisconsin, US media reported.
The storm raked the East Coast with heavy snowfall, glacial temperatures and high winds, forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights and causing thousands more delays.
On Saturday, more than 2,250 flights within, into or out of the United States were delayed, with New York's John F. Kennedy airport and the international airport in South Carolina's Charleston most affected.
Although most flights have resumed after the storm's passage, passengers on Air China 989 from Beijing were forced to wait seven hours to deplane at JFK, flight tracking site Flightradar24 tweeted.
Passengers complained of being stranded on the tarmac for hours and then facing lengthy delays in baggage claim that made traveling, particularly with babies or the elderly, a misery.
"Been stuck on tarmac for over 3 hours at JFK Alitalia flight 8604. Multiple passengers seeking medical attention. Staff not communicating," tweeted passenger Chris Mendez overnight. "Babies literally crying from hunger and people calling police from the plane."
At least two flights bound for New York -- OS87 from Vienna and LH400 from Frankfurt -- had to turn back over Britain and Ireland due to "capacity limit at JFK," Flightradar24 said.
FROSTBITE IN MINUTES
The Port Authority, which runs New York-area airports, acknowledged the problem, saying it was working to limit JFK flight arrivals until there were "gates available to handle the backlog."
Adding to the chaos, a China Southern Airlines and Kuwait Airways jet clipped each other's wings at JFK's Terminal 4 late Friday, causing damage to both aircraft but no injuries, officials said.
The US National Weather Service warned that below normal temperatures are likely to continue into early next week, forecasting freezing rain from Kansas to Tennessee, and said that ice could complicate road transport.
In the Midwest and Northeast, the highest temperatures were likely to be 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below average, potentially breaking a number of daily records, forecasters warned.
"It will be a brutally cold weekend but some relief is in sight heading into early next week," the weather service said.
Mount Washington, New Hampshire recorded the second-coldest temperature on earth early Saturday, minus 36 Fahrenheit.
The temperature in New York, the US financial capital and home to 8.5 million, hovered Saturday around 14 Fahrenheit, with the Hudson River along the west side of Manhattan partially frozen.
In eastern Canada, which has suffered through extreme cold for two weeks, there were further flight delays and cancellations at the Montreal and Toronto airports, and some communities along the Quebec coast faced flooding.
"Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill -- and keep emergency supplies in your vehicle," the Canadian weather service warned.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BOSTON/NEW YORK - Street crews dug out snow-clogged roads across the U.S. Northeast on Friday after a powerful blizzard, with temperatures set to plunge further during a brutal cold spell that has already killed at least 18 people.
From Baltimore to Caribou, Maine, workers battled to clear snow and ice as wind chills were forecast to fall as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius) in some areas after sundown, according to the National Weather Service.
In the latest fatality blamed on the harsh conditions, a driver slid off an icy road, killing a pedestrian, early on Friday in North Charleston, South Carolina, city officials said.
"THE DANGERS ARE REAL," the officials warned in a Twitter message. "Huge patches of ice all over the city. Stay at home."
The fierce cold will reach from New England to the Midwest and down to the Carolinas, forecasters warned, adding that low-temperature records could be broken across the region over the coming days.
In much of New England on Friday, the highs reached only into the single digits or teens Fahrenheit, with intense wind chills, said Dan Pydynowski, a meteorologist with private forecasting service AccuWeather.
"It can be very dangerous," Pydynowski said. "Any kind of exposed skin can freeze in a couple of minutes." Wind chill describes the combined effect of wind and low temperatures on bare skin.
There were noticeably fewer tourists on Friday afternoon in New York City's Times Square, which is usually thronged with visitors from countries around the world.
Arjun Shah, a 22-year-old Briton, studies in Indiana but had never visited the U.S. East Coast before. He flew in to New York City, where temperatures have been below freezing since Christmas Day, just 24 hours before the blizzard whipped in.
"Oh it's so bad! It's not this bad in London," Shah said, shivering while taking a break from snapping photos of the square. "It's my first time experiencing minus 10 degrees C." (14F).
MULTIPLE FATALITIES
The storm that swept in on Thursday with gusts of more than 70 miles per hour (113 km per hour), dumped a foot (30 cm) or more of snow throughout the region, including Boston and parts of New Jersey and Maine, before ending early Friday.
The harsh conditions were powered by a rapid plunge in barometric pressure that some weather forecasters called a bombogenesis, or a "bomb cyclone."
The weather has been blamed for at least 18 deaths in the past few days, including four in North Carolina traffic accidents and three in Texas.
The frigid spell also had some unusual effects: Shocked iguanas fell out of trees in Florida, while wildlife officials in the state said they had rescued more than 200 cold-stunned sea turtles from freezing waters.
Children in Boston and Baltimore enjoyed a second day of canceled classes, while New York schools stayed open. Schools in Newark, New Jersey, opened two hours later than normal.
Commuters riding the railways serving New York and Boston's suburbs endured extensive delays as crews worked to repair frozen equipment and clear snow-covered tracks.
Thursday's storm caused a 3-foot (0.9-meter) tidal surge that flooded the area around Boston's historic Long Wharf with icy seawater. Firefighters used an inflatable raft to rescue one motorist from a partially submerged car, authorities said.
Communities outside Boston, including Scituate, also experienced extensive flooding.
New York's John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports resumed flights on Friday after closing during whiteout conditions the day before. More than 1,300 U.S. flights were canceled by Friday afternoon, most of them at the New York area's three major airports and Boston Logan International Airport.
Nearly 500 members of the National Guard were activated to assist with the emergency response along the East Coast, including 200 in New York state, authorities said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
BOSTON/NEW YORK - Street crews in the U.S. Northeast raced through the night into Friday to clear snow-clogged streets after a powerful blizzard and restore power to homes ahead of a brutal cold spell that has killed more than a dozen people in the United States.
From Baltimore to Caribou, Maine efforts were underway to clear roadways of ice and snow as wind chill temperatures were to plunge during the day, reaching -40 F (-40 C) in some parts after sundown, according to the National Weather Service.
Utility companies across the East worked to repair downed power lines early on Friday as about 21,000 customers remained without electricity, down from almost 80,000 the day before, and issued warnings that temperatures may become dangerously low.
“If the temperature in your home begins to fall, we recommend taking shelter elsewhere until service can be restored. You can find warming centers by contacting local authorities,” National Grid power company, which serves Massachusetts, said on Twitter.
The storm, packing winds gusts of more than 70 miles per hour (113 kph), dumped a foot or more of snow throughout the region, including Boston and parts New Jersey and Maine, where heavy snow continued to fall early on Friday.
Many East Coast communities ordered drivers to stay off the roads and closed schools on Friday. Schools in Boston and Baltimore canceled classes while Newark, New Jersey schools were opening two hours later than usual on Friday.
The storm on Thursday caused a 3-foot (0.9-meter) tidal surge which flooded the area around Boston’s historic Long Wharf with icy seawater. Firefighters used an inflatable raft to rescue one motorist from a car submerged in water up to its door handles, Boston Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn told reporters.
The storm forced thousands of flights to be canceled and New York City’s two main airports halted flights because of whiteout conditions.
“Fliers are urged to contact their airlines for information on resumption of specific flights before going to the airport,” said JFK on Twitter as the airport announced that flights would resume at 7 a.m. Friday.
Passenger train operator Amtrak said it reduced service on several routes in the Northeast on Friday, including its train between Washington D.C. and Boston. Transit systems including New York’s Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuter lines reduced service and told passengers to expect delays on Friday.
The storm was powered by a rapid plunge in barometric pressure that some weather forecasters called a bombogenesis, or a “bomb cyclone.” It brought high winds and swift, heavy snowfall.
The wintry weather has been blamed for at least 14 deaths in the past few days, including three in North Carolina traffic accidents and three in Texas because of the cold.
Nearly 500 members of the National Guard were activated along the East Coast to assist with emergency response, including 200 in New York state, the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement.
Officials reported traffic accidents throughout the Northeast and the storm’s reach extended to eastern Canada.
On Wednesday, the same storm brought historic cities in the Southeastern United States their heaviest snowfall in three decades.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
