At least 24 people have died in the United States as the country grapples with a severe winter storm.
Blizzard conditions left more than 700,000 homes and businesses without power, with over 200 million people on some form of weather warning as temperatures dip well below freezing.
More than 3,000 flights were canceled on Saturday, with some airports closed.
Live updates: Death toll rises as storm impact spreads
Warning of 90mph winds and 20cm of snow
Icy conditions on the roads prompted many authorities to warn against non-essential travel, and hundreds of people who ventured out found themselves stranded in their vehicles.
Among those who died are three people in car crashes in Kentucky and three others in Oklahoma, two of which happened as winds blew through blowing snow.
In Montana, the National Weather Service warned that the eastern slope of Glacier National Park and nearby foothills and plains could see up to 8 inches of snow and winds of up to 90 mph.
Montana saw -45.6C (-50F) earlier in the storm, while yesterday’s low belonged to the remote city of Le Havre – also in Montana – which saw -39C (38F).
In Maine, more than 165,000 properties are without power and utility bosses have warned it could take days for supply to be restored, while some other states have asked customers to reduce usage to avoid power outages.
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Fears rise for the homeless
A company has told its 65 million customers in 13 states that power plants are struggling to operate under pressure from weather and extreme demand.
Another power company asked its customers to lower their thermostats from 15.6 C to 16.7 C because a pipeline equipment failure had temporarily cut off gas from one of its suppliers.
Emergency shelters are open for those who are homeless or have no electricity at home, and there are also urgent efforts to provide firewood to some Native American tribes who live in isolated areas.
In Portland, Oregon, storm shelters distributed tarps and tents to people as the centers themselves closed due to a hiatus in bad weather.
More than 1,100 people had sought warmth at the city’s five emergency weather shelters, officials said.
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“I don’t know how they will survive”
“One of the worst storms in history”
In Buffalo, New York, deep snow, freezing temperatures and power outages have encouraged people to seek out churches, police stations and anywhere else that might have heating.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said ambulances needed more than three hours for a single trip to the hospital, with roads still hampered by snow, abandoned cars and downed power lines.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the storm was “one of the worst on record,” and Timothy Carney of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office said, “It’s basically a hurricane of category 3 with a pile of mixed snow. last 24 hours.”
