Winter storm's icy blast affects 1.5 mn people without power in US ahead of holiday season

The US winter storm has affected around 200 million Americans and caused at least 12 deaths ahead of the holiday weekend. Thousands of flights were cancelled and more than 1.5 million people lost power just two days before Christmas due to the winter storm in the US.

In Canada's Ontario and Quebec, hundreds of thousands of people have faced multiple power cuts whereas in South Dakota people had burnt clothes for warmth after running out of fuel, BBC reported. 

The winter storm in the US has also affected travel and has caused storm-related fatalities mainly road traffic accidents, including a 50-car pile-up in Ohio that left at least one person dead. Around eight thousand flights have been cancelled on December 23 which created more travel chaos as it's a holiday season, said tracking site FlightAware, as per BBC reports.

200 million hits by winter storm

A bomb cyclone has brought blizzard-like conditions to the Great Lakes on the US-Canada border. The vast storm has hit an area that spans 3,200 km from Texas to Maine. 

While looking at the Friday map, the National Weather Service (NWS) "depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever".

The US winter storm has affected the US adversely as the temperatures in Elk Park, Montana, have dropped to -50F (-45C). Areas of Pennsylvania and Michigan, Buffalo, and New York have been forecasted with heavy snowfall and has expected to fall at least 35 inches. 

Whereas New England, New York, and New Jersey have been witnessing Coastal flooding. The milder southern states of the US such as Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia have been predicted with warnings of hard-freeze winters. According to PowerOutage.us, the current update for customers without electricity has been 1.2 million across the US by Friday evening, BBC reported. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Valley has been implementing rolling blackouts to save power. However, people in the Pacific Northwest have been seen enjoying ice skating on frozen streets in Seattle and Portland.