Over 300k Houses Without Power as US Hit with Extreme Weather

By Staff, Agencies

Millions of people in the United States are bracing for more tornadoes and heavy snow after a weekend of wild winter weather left over 304,000 houses and businesses without power.

“A busy weather pattern is expected to continue through midweek with impacts throughout many different regions of the country,” the National Weather Service [NWS] said in a bulletin on Monday.

Some parts of California are expected to see several feet of snow in the coming days, with winds of up to 60mph, the NWS said.

Over the weekend, strong winds uprooted trees and power lines, leaving thousands of people without heat in the state as temperatures dropped.

“Severe thunderstorms capable of producing a few tornadoes and damaging gusts remain possible,” the NWS Storm Prediction Center warned on Monday.

A report by CNN said people on the West Coast and in the Northeast were the worst affected, dealing with heavy snowfall, strong winds, power outages and dangerous road conditions.

The report warned the storm will spread further into northern New England on Tuesday as cold air intensifies over the region and 4-8 inches of snowfall, according to the NWS.

New York governor Kathy Hochul was quoted as telling residents to prepare for hazardous travel conditions as the state faces freezing rain, snowfall rates of at least 1 inch per hour and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour.

In Rhode Island, all schools were reportedly closed Tuesday. Connecticut also announced closures of schools in some cities and all state office buildings as the state braced for a significant snowstorm.

In Michigan, over 196,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Monday evening after a major ice storm damaged essential infrastructure in the state last week.

That drew condemnation from public officials who blamed energy companies for the dangerous infrastructure breakdown and sought credit for customers who have been without power during the storms.