America is experiencing one of the coldest weekends of the year as Niagara Falls has frozen over and sharks are freezing to death in the Atlantic.

The US is currently gripped by an arctic blast of air that has kept temperatures below freezing and brought record cold to some spots.

A huge swathe of the country is facing numbing cold as forecasters warn New Year’s revelers from Memphis to Maine to expect freezing conditions on Sunday.

As far south as Charleston, South Carolina, freezing rain coated the city’s landmark church steeples, while brutally cold weather has iced plans for scores of events in the Northeast from New Year’s Eve through New Year’s Day.

Authorities are warning revelers in New York City that it could be one of the coldest New Year’s Eve ball drops on record while in Boston the weather has cracked railway tracks, causing chaos for commuters

Bitter temperatures and snow squalls have been blamed for a handful of deaths, car pileups and a rash of car thefts.

About 30 crashes have been reported on icy roadways in Michigan, which has also seen six inches of snow.

A woman in a wheelchair who was forced off snowy sidewalks into a busy Omaha thoroughfare was escorted by a firetruck. The wind child was -28C that night.

Police say an 83-year-old woman died from exposure to the cold after crashing her car in eastern South Dakota.

As a deep freeze sets in across half the country, officials are urging people to help those most vulnerable, especially the homeless and the elderly.

Forecasters are warning people to be wary of hypothermia and frostbite from the arctic blast that’s gripping a large swath from the Midwest to the Northeast.

The prolonged, dangerous cold weather has sent advocates for the homeless scrambling to get people off the streets and to bring in extra beds for them.

The Ohio Department of Aging says older people are at increased risk from such severe cold, from medication side effects to falling risks.

The department is encouraging people to check on family members, friends and neighbors.

Animal advocates are urging people to remember their pets and not to leave them outside.

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Tom Herbert

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