New York declared an “enhanced code blue” due to the extreme cold and the city’s emergency management department would open more than 50 hospitals and shelters to provide warmth for people who need it. About half a million students in New York logged in for remote learning on Monday as schools remained closed.
In Dallas about 1,150 unhoused people were in a shelter provided by the city, as well as 10 households and 14 pets.
The severe weather has put huge pressure on emergency services who have faced high levels of callouts and carried out widespread rescues. State troopers in New Hampshire responded to 126 crashes since since the storm began.
In Pittsburgh there was almost an inch of snow per hour on Monday, making it the second biggest 24-hour snow accumulation in Pittsburgh in 30 years. Mayor Corey O’Connor told a news conference declared a state of emergency and said some 37 snow plows broke down in the city due to the extreme cold.
A state trooper in Louisiana caught the moment a tree fell onto a road in Natchitoches Parish, illustrating how trees and power lines are weighed down by the extreme cold, causing widespread disruption and damage.
Adrian Ronca-Hohn told the Associated Press that about 40 trees collapsed around his property in northeast Mississippi, meaning he and his family will have to chainsaw their way out. “I mean, it looks like a war zone out here,” he said. “We couldn’t go 10 seconds without hearing what sounded like a gunshot.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he would deploy 500 National Guard soldiers by Wednesday to help remove debris and manage traffic. “We will get through this,” Reeves said. “We’re not going to get through it today and we’re not going to get through it tomorrow.”
The city of Monroe, Louisiana, issued a precautionary warning to boil water for one minute before drinking it because the weather had caused it to have “questionable microbiological quality” due to “temporary operational challanges.”
The Associated Press contributed.
