A powerful snowstorm, bringing heavy snowfall and freezing rain, has struck the eastern United States, causing chaos from Kentucky all the way to the nation’s capital, Washington.
American media report hundreds of road accidents, and experts have issued even more dire warnings: they predict flooding due to rising temperatures, which could cause rivers to swell. Flooding even threatens areas of California that were recently devastated by wildfires.
The storm that hit areas of Kentucky heading toward Maryland and farther north brought nearly 40 centimeters of snow to Iron Gate, a small town in West Virginia, and 30 centimeters of snow to White Sulfur Springs, also in West Virginia, according to the National Weather Service. By Wednesday, more than 190,000 customers in Virginia and over 13,000 in North Carolina remained without power. Snow also covered airports in Virginia and Tennessee.
Around 2,500 flights were canceled or delayed across the country, including 200 at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington. For the second day in a row, schools were canceled across Virginia, and the same happened in Baltimore and Washington, with students and teachers advised to stay home.
