Winter storm kills 19 in US, Over 200 million people without power

In the United States and Canada, at least 19 people died in incidents related to powerful Arctic winter storm ahead of the holiday weekend. The vast storm extends more than 3,200km from Texas to Quebec. Around 200 million people are feeling the icy grip as people are without power and thousands of flights were cancelled on Friday, December 23. In South Dakota, snowed-in Native Americans burned clothes for warmth after running out of fuel, said tribal officials. More than 1.5 million people lost power and thousands of flights were cancelled on Friday. Heavy snowfall was forecast in areas of Pennsylvania and Michigan. More than eight million people remained under blizzard warnings. Coastal flooding has been seen in New England, New York, and New Jersey. Utilities throughout the Tennessee Valley were implementing rolling blackouts to save power. The US National Weather Service, NWS said its Friday map depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever. It further said more than 100 daily cold temperature records could be tied or broken over the next few days.A number of the storm-related fatalities have involved road traffic accidents, including a 50-car pile-up in Ohio that killed four motorists. Another four died in separate crashes in the state. In Canada, Ontario and Quebec were bearing the brunt of the Arctic blast, with  power cut to hundreds of thousands. Much of the rest of the country, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, was under extreme cold and winter storm warnings.