Nearly 200,000 Homes Without Power, 1,400+ Flights Canceled On Christmas Day

Topline

More than 200,000 homes and businesses across the Mid-Atlantic and New England region were left without power on Christmas morning as most of the U.S. continues to reel from a devastating winter storm that hit large parts of the country over the past week.

Key Facts

According to PowerOutage.us, more than 88,000 customers in Maine and 39,000 customers in New York were still without power on Christmas morning in addition to more than 60,000 homes and businesses in New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey.

Several cities across the country are facing their most frigid Christmas in years, including New York City on Saturday, which recorded its coldest Christmas Eve since 1872.

While exact numbers remain unclear, authorities have attributed at least 22 deaths to the deadly winter storm in the past few days, CNN reported.

The severe weather has also badly hit travel over the holiday weekend, with more than 1,400 U.S.-based flights already canceled on Christmas Day, after nearly 3,500 cancellations on Christmas Eve, according to data published by Flight Aware.

The Hartsfield-Jackson International airport in Atlanta is the worst hit on Sunday with 86 cancellations so far.

Several regions including the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast remain under winter weather warnings or advisories with the coldest weather forecast for the Midwest.

Crucial Quote

“The life-threatening cold temperatures and in combination with dangerous wind chills will create a potentially life-threatening hazard for travelers that become stranded, individuals that work outside, livestock and domestic pets,” the National Weather Service warned in its forecast on Sunday. The agency also noted that the winter storm is weakening as it moves westward, but warned that there will only be a “slow moderation of temperatures” going into Monday.

Key Background

The country is facing what the National Weather Service described as a “once in a generation” winter storm that began on Thursday and is expected to last until the end of the Christmas weekend. More than 1.5 million homes and businesses were hit by power outages due to the storm while around 20% of all flights were canceled across the country on Friday. The severe conditions have forced several states to issue a state of emergency while authorities urged residents to hunker down at home for Christmas.

Further Reading

In Photos: Record Snowfall And 2 Million Without Power As Elliott Batters States (Forbes)

Winter Storm Elliott: 4,300 Flights Canceled And These States Have Major Power Outages (Forbes)