Winter weather: Temperatures plummet, thousands face Christmas without power

[jakeXT]

Source: NBC News

By Alexander Smith, NBC News contributor

Crews are battling to restore electric power to hundreds of thousands of people from Michigan to Maine in time for Christmas Day after an ice storm brought down trees and power lines.

About 380,000 homes and businesses across Michigan, New York, Vermont and Maine were still without power early Tuesday after the severe weekend weather, utilities firms said.

Adding to the urgency: The cold. Kevin Roth, lead meteorologist from The Weather Channel, said parts of Michigan — the worst affected state with some 250,000 of the outages — were now experiencing temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees, with wind chills well below zero.

The Bryant family, who live in the Detroit suburb of Oxford, have been forced to use a generator for their fridge and a fireplace and kerosene lamps for light.





Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/24/22032672-winter-weather-temperatures-plummet-thousands-face-christmas-without-power

[msongs]

1. god,s xmas gift, enjoy! nt

[seattledo]

2. I bet the Faux Knews crowd blames this on the "War" on xmas

[Skittles]

3. kudos to those crews

[Earth_First]

4. No doubt!

+1000

[jakeXT]

5. Power outages darken Christmas for thousands

As repair crews worked around the clock to restore power, hundreds of thousands in parts of the central and northeastern USA were set to wake up to a cold and dark Christmas.

...

In Canada, carbon monoxide poisoning likely killed five people using generators or barbecues to stay warm after losing power and heat.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said the city received about 110 carbon monoxide calls Monday -- six times more than on a normal day. Hospitals treated 11 people with signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.

About 90,000 customers were still awaiting power Tuesday evening, and officials said some may not have it restored until after Christmas.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/12/25/ice-storm-dark-christmas-power-outages/4198625/