Violent storms and freezing temperatures that swept through the United States over the past week have resulted in 50 weather-related deaths, as reported by xtUS media outlets on Friday.
At the same time, large areas of the country brace for more cold winds.
Extreme cold temperatures, snowy winds, and thick layers of ice led to traffic accidents resulting in fatalities and disrupted air travel. Schools were closed, and thousands of people lost power, with warnings issued to millions of Americans about severe weather conditions, according to France Presse.
In the state of Tennessee, health authorities in the southern state confirmed 14 deaths due to the cold weather.
Additionally, five women returning from the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca tragically died in a traffic accident on a highway in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, according to the police.
Kentucky recorded 5 weather-related deaths, as announced by the state's governor, Andy Beshear, in a statement on Friday.
In Oregon, three people were fatally electrocuted when a power cable fell on their parked car during an ice storm on Wednesday, according to the Portland Fire Bureau.
The storm caused power outages for 75,000 customers in Oregon as of Friday evening, according to the specialized Power Outage Observatory, prompting the state's governor to declare a state of emergency.
Deaths were reported in Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin, and Washington state, where it is believed that 5 people died due to the cold, according to local media reports citing officials in Seattle.
Snowstorms hit several regions of the country, including the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, and parts of New England in the Northeast, especially western New York, where meteorologists said nearly 1.9 meters of snow fell near Buffalo over 5 days this week.
The freezing temperatures extended to the unaccustomed southern regions of the United States during this harsh winter.
Some areas of the United States are preparing for more severe weather conditions at the end of the week.
The National Weather Service said in its latest alerts on Friday that "new polar winds will bring cold temperatures and dangerous winds to the Great Plains and the Mississippi Valley in the eastern United States."
Air travel also witnessed chaos on Friday, with over 1,100 flights canceled in the United States and more than 8,000 delayed, according to the specialized FlightAware website.
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