A worker tries to control the snow in front of the Capitol in Washington.Image: AP
A massive winter storm has hit large parts of the USA. More than a million people are without power and several deaths have been reported. The storm hits the South, the Midwest and the East Coast all at once.
Jan 25, 2026, 9:21 p.mJan 25, 2026, 9:21 p.m
In the United States, more than a million electricity customers were without electricity on Sunday afternoon local time. This emerges from data from the poweroutage.us platform, which bundles information from energy suppliers. States in the South and the Midwest are particularly affected.
According to authorities, the winter storm affected a total of around 190 million people. Freezing rain, heavy snowfall and extreme cold lead to power outages in many regions and significant restrictions on everyday life.
Deaths reported in Louisiana and New York City
At least two people were killed in the southern United States. Two men died as a result of hypothermia, the Caddo Parish Health Department in Louisiana said. Authorities did not provide any information about the age of the victims.
The storm is also claiming lives on the east coast. In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed five deaths related to the storm. Almost all flights in the metropolis were canceled and schools remained closed on Monday.
Extreme cold and massive traffic problems
The storm stretches over a distance of around 3,000 kilometers, from New Mexico in the southwest to Maine in the northeast. In parts of Texas, ice and sleet reached the mainland on Saturday night. The weather service warned of what felt like temperatures of up to minus 24 degrees Celsius. On Saturday morning, around 30,000 households in Texas were without power.
In northern New York state, temperatures fell to minus 34 degrees Celsius after days of snowfall. In the Midwest, temperatures felt as low as minus 40 degrees. According to meteorologists, at such values, frostbite can occur after just a few minutes.
Air traffic is particularly hard hit. Airlines such as Delta Air Lines canceled numerous connections and asked passengers to adjust their travel plans. According to the FlightAware platform, more than 3,400 flights were delayed or canceled on Saturday. Over 5,000 flight cancellations were announced for Sunday. According to the analysis company Cirium, around two thirds of all planned departures at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport were canceled. There are also massive problems on the roads, especially in Louisiana and Mississippi, where experts warn of dangerous ice deposits. (mke)