Arctic blast leaves 21 dead, strains resources and shuts businesses in US Midwest
- Schools and businesses remain closed in several states and many travellers are stranded
- An 18-year-old university student died nearby his dormitory, while homeless and displaced people were particularly at risk of succumbing to the polar vortex
Tens of millions of Americans braved Arctic-like temperatures on Thursday as low as minus 49 degrees Celsius (minus 56 degrees Fahrenheit) that paralysed the US Midwest and were blamed for at least 21 deaths.
Warmer-than-normal weather was on the way, but that offered little comfort to vulnerable populations such as the homeless and elderly enduring cold that caused frostbite in minutes and made being outside potentially deadly.
Officials across multiple states linked numerous deaths to the frigid air. The death toll rose from a previous 12 after at least nine more people in Chicago were reported to have died from cold-related injuries, according to Stathis Poulakidas, a doctor at the city’s John H. Stroger Jnr Hospital.
Poulakidas, a trauma specialist, said the hospital had seen about 25 frostbite victims this week. He said the most severe cases risked having fingers and toes amputated.
Among those believed to have died from the cold was University of Iowa student Gerard Belz. The 18-year-old was found unresponsive on campus early Wednesday morning just a short walk from his dorm, according to university officials. Police told a local television station they believed the cold played a factor in his death. The wind chill at the time officers found Belz was minus 46 degrees Celsius, according to the National Weather Service.