NEW YORK: A fearsome winter storm that pummelled the United States with blinding snow and powerful Arctic winds left 1.7 million people without power on Saturday while thousands of cancelled flights stranded travellers making last-minute dashes for Christmas.

At least 13 storm-related deaths have been confirmed across six states as heavy snow, howling winds and dangerously frigid temperatures kept much of the nation, including the normally temperate south, in a frozen grip for a third straight day.

Frigid cold and blowing winds knocked out power and cut energy production across the US, driving up heating and electricity prices. Winter Storm Elliott brought sub-freezing temperatures and extreme weather alerts to about two-thirds of the US, with cold and snow in some areas to linger through the Christmas holiday.

More than 1.7 million homes and businesses lost power, oil refineries in Texas cut gasoline and diesel production on equipment failures, and heating and power prices surged on the losses.

Over a dozen die; 1.7m homes, businesses face blackouts; air, road travel across several states affected

The “bomb cyclone” winter storm, one of the fiercest in decades, had already forced the cancellation of more than 1,900 US flights on Saturday, a day after nearly 6,000 were scrapped, according to tracking website Flightaware.com.

Cancellations left stranded travellers at airports including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York hoping for a pre-Christmas flight rebooking miracle.

In hard-hit New York state, Governor Kathy Hochul deployed the National Guard to Erie County and its main city Buffalo, where authorities said emergency services have essentially collapsed in the face of extreme blizzard conditions.

Over 200 million Americans were under weather warnings as wind chills sent temperatures plunging to as low as -55 Fahrenheit (-48 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Authorities were warning about lethal conditions and urging residents to remain indoors.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2022