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    Kapital FM 92.9 The Station that Rocks!

Foreign

Nearly 90 Dead After Fierce Winter Storms Strike US

todayJanuary 22, 2024

Background

More than 90 weather-related deaths have been recorded across the US after the country was pummelled by ferocious winter storms for the past week.

The deaths include at least 25 in Tennessee and 16 in Oregon, which remains under a state of emergency following severe ice storms.

Tens of thousands of people also remain without power across wide swathes of the country.

Icy conditions are expected to ease off in the next few days.

A total of 92 weather-related fatalities have been recorded across the country over the past week, according to a tally maintained by CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

While the death toll has been greatest in Tennessee and Oregon, fatalities have also been reported in Mississippi, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, Kentucky, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey and elsewhere.

In one incident in Portland, Oregon last Wednesday, three people were electrocuted to death when powerful winds caused a power line to fall and strike the vehicle in which they were travelling. A baby who was in the vehicle survived.

Other deaths remain under investigation, including that of a person killed in a five-car crash in Kentucky and four in Illinois.

Five people – most of them presumed to be homeless – died over the course of just four days in Seattle, according to the Associated Press.

In Mississippi, the weather has prompted officials to warn drivers to “drive only if necessary” and “be aware of black ice” on the state’s roads. Colleges and universities in the state have delayed students’ return from winter break due to the conditions.

The state’s death toll rose to 11 after three more deaths were announced there on Sunday.

Www.bbcnews.co.uk/world

Written by: Safiya Wada

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