USA: Arctic air blasts Washington, D.C.

Record ID: 333350

  • Title: USA: Arctic air blasts Washington, D.C.
  • Date: 7th January 2014
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 7, 2014) (REUTERS) FROZEN REFLECTING POOL IN FRONT OF U.S. CAPITOL CHUNKS OF ICE ON REFLECTING POOL PEOPLE WALKING IN FRONT OF BUILDING WITH DIGITAL THERMOMETER READING 4 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT (-15 C) DIGITAL THERMOMETER READING 4 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT (-15 C) WOMAN WITH FUR-LINED HOOD AND SCARF WALKING PEOPLE DRESSED IN WINTER CLOTHING
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Disasters,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVAD6RBOHCPB3LKZFR610W944BX6
  • Story Text: A blast of Arctic air moved eastward on Tuesday (January 7), canceling thousands of flights, paralyzing road travel, and closing schools and businesses.
    In Washington, D.C. temperatures for the morning commute dropped well below freezing.
    "I'm freezing," commuter James Rawls said as he exited the Metro station to get to work.
    A native Southerner, Rawls said the frigid cold was a shock.
    "Just put enough clothes on, scarf, hat, and just hit the road, so I can get paid," he said.
    The polar air shattered decades-old records as it gripped the middle United States.
    Shelters for the homeless were overflowing due to the severe cold brought by a polar air mass that produced the coldest temperatures in two decades and at least four deaths.
    Despite thermometers reading in the single digits, homeless men in Washington sat on grates where warm air blows from below the streets and huddled under blankets on park benches.
    The deep freeze snarled commuters with icy or closed roads and flight delays on Tuesday, with some 1,800 U.S. flights canceled and roughly 400 delayed, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks airline activity.
    Gusty winds and bone-chilling temperatures hovering near 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius) were to hit the mid-Atlantic region, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo had declared a state of emergency.
    Parent Tamiya Hicks said schools should have been closed in Washington.
    "I wish that they closed school because my son is, he's seven, and it's too cold for kids to be out here, babies, everything is cold. I don't like it at all."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register