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Respite for snowed-in Chicago
24/12/2007 19:43 - (SA)
Washington - Power was back on for most of the greater Chicago area on Monday after a heavy snow storm blew through the region grounding flights for Christmas holiday travellers, and leaving 11 dead in road accidents, according to reports.
But new warnings were out for areas along the shores of the eastern Great Lakes region in both the United States and Canada as the winter storms were expected to dump loads of snow along the shorelines.
By early morning on Monday electricity had been restored to all but about 7 500 homes out of 225 000 that had lost power over the weekend around Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported.
And the Federal Aviation Administration reported that flights throughout the upper midwest region hit hardest by the storm were largely on time on one of the busiest days of the year for commercial carriers.
The storm left at least 11 dead in car crashes across the central United States over the weekend, local papers said, with icy roads and poor visibility causing hundreds of accidents.
On Saturday, blowing snow reduced visibility and caused a massive pile-up of about 80 cars and trucks to the south in Texas, leaving one dead and five others seriously injured, according to the Amarillo Globe-News.
Driving wind topping 65km/h toppled ice-covered trees and knocked out power in several states, while snow, ice, fog and powerful winds created havoc for those trying to head home for the Christmas holiday on treacherous highways or via airports.
300 flights cancelled
About 300 flights were cancelled over the weekend at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and in Minnesota nearly 100 flights were grounded and others were delayed for hours at the Twin Cities airport in Minneapolis-St Paul.
The National Weather Service on Monday lifted all of its storm warnings for the upper midwest, but added them for the eastern Great Lakes region as the storm threatens to pick up moisture from the lakes and dump piles of "lake effect snow" in narrow bands along the lee shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario.
"The combination of accumulating snow and strong winds will result in occasional whiteout conditions which would make travel difficult," the NWS warned for the greater region around Buffalo, New York.
Environment Canada had warnings out for communities along the coastlines of Lake Ontario and Erie as well.
Canadian broadcaster CBC reported that four people died in the Montreal region over the weekend in weather-related accidents.
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