US bomb cyclone: At least 28 dead and hundreds of thousands of homes without power in brutal storm
At least 28 people have died in the US as the country grapples with a brutal winter storm.
Blizzard conditions have left almost 380,000 homes and businesses without power, with more than 200 million people under some form of weather warning as temperatures plunge to well below freezing.
More than 3,000 flights were cancelled on Saturday, with some airports closed.
Live updates: Number of dead rises as impact of storm spreads
Four people died in a pile-up of 46 cars on an icy Ohio road. Pic: State Highway Patrol Ohio
Warning of 90mph winds and 20cm of snow
Icy conditions on the roads prompted many authorities to warn against non-essential travel, and hundreds of people who did venture out found themselves stranded in their vehicles.
Among those who have died are three people in car crashes in Kentucky, and another three in Oklahoma, two of which happened as winds blew the drifting snow.
In Montana, the National Weather Service warned that the eastern slope of Glacier National Park and nearby foothills and plains could see up to 20.3cm of snow and winds of up to 90mph.
Montana saw a temperature of -45.6C (-50F) earlier in the storm, while yesterday’s low belonged to the remote town of Havre – also in Montana – which saw -39C (38F).
In Maine, more than 125,000 properties are without power and utility bosses have warned it could take days before supply is restored, while some other states have asked customers to cut back on their usage to avoid rolling blackouts.
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What is a bomb cyclone? The extreme winter storm hitting US
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One company told its 65 million customers in 13 states that power plants were struggling to operate under the pressure of the weather and the extreme demand.
Another power company asked customers to drop their thermostats from 15.6C to 16.7C because a pipeline equipment failure had temporarily cut the gas coming from one of its suppliers by 30%.
Emergency shelters are being opened for those who are homeless or have no power at home, and there are also urgent efforts to get firewood to some Native American tribes who live in isolated areas.
In Portland, Oregon, severe weather shelters gave out tarpaulins and tents to people as the centres themselves closed due to a break in the bad weather.
More than 1,100 people had sought warmth at the city’s five emergency weather shelters, officials said.
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‘I don’t know how they’ll survive’
‘One of the worst storms in history’
In Buffalo, New York, deep snow, freezing temperatures and power cuts encouraged people to seek churches, police stations and anywhere else that might have heating.
Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said ambulances needed more than three hours for a single trip to a hospital, with roads still hampered by snow, abandoned cars and downed power lines.
New York governor Kathy Hochul said the storm was “one of the worst in history”, and Timothy Carney of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office said: “It’s essentially a category 3 hurricane with a bunch of snow mixed in. It’s been like that for the past 24 hours.”
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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