Heavy snow blasts Northeast as U.S. battles impacts of ‘catastrophic’ ice accumulation

More than 800,000 homes have been left without power, and over 11,000 flights canceled, as a huge swath of the U.S. battles the ‘Arctic siege’ that has brought heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain to the eastern third of the country.

Winter storm warnings were posted covering 118 million people, as the deep freeze strained energy supplies in some areas, as National Weather Service predicted widespread, prolonged travel disruptions and “catastrophic ice accumulation” from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.

President Donald Trump has approved federal emergency disaster declarations for a dozen states, mostly in the mid-South, while New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had mobilized National Guard troops in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley.

“An Arctic siege has taken over our state,” Hochul said. “It is brutal, it is bone-chilling and it is dangerous.”

An estimated 157 million Americans were warned to bundle up against cold ranging from sub-zero temperatures along the Canadian border to below-freezing as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.

The onslaught of snow, ice and winds hit air travel especially hard, with major carriers forced to cancel more than 11,000 U.S. flights scheduled for Sunday, according to an industry tracking service FlightAware.com.

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