US bomb cyclone: Nine people dead as temperatures plummet as low as -45C
Nine people have died in the US as the country grapples with a winter storm that has seen temperatures plunge as low as -45C (-49F).
More than 200 million people – around 60% of the US population – are under some form of weather warning or advisory, with the brutal cold expected to continue through the Christmas weekend.
State of emergency in New York – US bomb cyclone live updates
A person wrapped in a blanket crosses a snow-covered street in St Louis amid the bomb cyclone. Pic: AP
The nine weather-related deaths so far:
• Two deaths as a result of car crashes in Kentucky
• A homeless person died in the city of Louisville
• Three crashes in Oklahoma killed three people – two of the crashes happened as winds blew the drifting snow, while details of the third crash were not yet available
• The driver of a car in Missouri died after losing control on an icy road, going down an embankment, over a cement wall and landing upside down in a creek
• One person died in Wisconsin after a pick-up truck drove into the back of another vehicle before leaving the road and hitting a tractor-trailer unit parked on the hard shoulder
• A man was found dead on Friday morning in Memphis and, although there are no details, authorities have said it appears the death is weather-related
The Kansas Highway Patrol also said three people were killed in separate vehicle collisions on Wednesday, as the storm began, with drivers losing control of their vehicles on icy roads.
Temperatures across inland states have plunged: -45.6C (-50F) in Montana, and Des Moines in Iowa feeling like -38C (-37F), making it possible to suffer frostbite in less than five minutes, according to the National Weather Service.
Heavy snow and blizzard conditions are continuing around parts of the Great Lakes area – which covers lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario – with as much as 4ft of snow expected on the eastern side of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
Gusty winds have snapped trees and taken down power lines, with at least 1.4 million homes and businesses without electricity on Friday morning.
Read more:
In pictures: US gripped by deep freeze as bomb cyclone hits
What is a bomb cyclone? The extreme winter storm hitting the US
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‘Look at my thermometer’: Reporter in US
Biden: ‘This is serious stuff’
According to the website poweroutage.us, Maine, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina were the worst-affected, followed by Tennessee, New York, Maryland, and Connecticut.
More than 5,000 flights into, within and out of the US were cancelled on Friday, and there is a rush to open enough emergency shelters for those who are homeless or have no power at home.
There are also urgent efforts being made to get firewood to some Native American tribes who live remotely, such as members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.
Tribal president Frank Star Comes Out described the efforts as “one heck of a fight so far”.
US President Joe Biden said: “This is not like a snow day when you were a kid – this is serious stuff.”
Near London, Ontario, Canada. Pic: OPP West Region.
Canada is also experiencing a bad storm, which has seen hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled and hundreds of thousands of properties without power.
Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Kerry Schmidt said police had received reports of up to 100 vehicles involved in multiple collisions that have closed off a major highway near London, Ontario.
Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
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Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
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