Megastorm in the USA: snow and ice leave 230,000 without power and put half of the country under threat

Winter storm in the USA causes cancellation of thousands of flights The snow and ice megastorm that is advancing across the United States has already left 230,000 consumers without electricity, according to a report obtained by Reuters this Sunday (25). The National Weather Service said heavy snow and freezing rain threaten about 180 million people, representing more than half the country’s population. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp On Saturday (24), the Midwest of the USA faced thermal sensations of up to -40°C — a level at which the skin can freeze in up to ten minutes. In the state of Wisconsin, thermometers registered -38°C in the morning, the lowest temperature recorded in the region in almost 30 years. The weather conditions also caused the cancellation of around 13,400 flights across the country. Classifying the storms as “historic,” United States President Donald Trump approved federal emergency declarations for South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and West Virginia. “We will continue to monitor and maintain contact with all states in the path of this storm. Stay safe and warm,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. The National Weather Service warned of an unusually large and long-lasting winter storm, with heavy ice accumulation forecast in the Southeast, where “devastating to locally catastrophic” impacts are expected. Meteorologists also predict record cold and dangerous wind chills moving into the Great Plains by Monday (26). Emergency A person walks down a snow-covered residential street in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, on January 24, 2026, as heavy snow covers the streets REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have declared a weather emergency, the Department of Homeland Security said. “We have tens of thousands of people in affected Southern states who have lost power,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Saturday. “Utility teams are working to restore service as quickly as possible.” On Saturday, the Department of Energy issued an emergency order that authorized the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to turn on backup power generation at data centers and other large facilities, with the aim of limiting blackouts in the state. This Sunday, the department issued a new emergency order to authorize network operator PJM Interconnection to operate “specific resources” in the mid-Atlantic region, regardless of limits imposed by state laws or environmental permits. Electric grid operators also reinforced measures to avoid rotating blackouts. Dominion Energy, whose operations in Virginia include the largest collection of data centers in the world, said that if the ice forecast is confirmed, the event could be among the largest ever faced by the company. VIDEOS: most watched on g1

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