Polar Vortex Slams the US

224 million people in various parts of the U.S. have been experiencing an extreme blast of cold over the last week. The polar vortex has claimed 21 lives to date. Over 3,000 flights have been delayed, and over 2,000 flights have been canceled across the nation.

Regions ranging from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic have experienced extremely cold temperatures of 0 degrees and even as low as -30, not accounting for the windchill. This brought the temperature in Chicago down to -52 in some areas. The rate of frostbite cases in hospitals across the nation have increased drastically, while schools and businesses are shut down due to the bitter conditions. A Chicago hospital has treated over 40 frostbite victims. The majority of the victims in this hospital were from the homeless population, while the elderly population has experienced casualties as well.

On the bright side, temperatures are expected to increase dramatically in the upcoming days. In Chicago alone, there is supposed to be a sharp temperature swing as temperatures rise to 50 degrees. Unfortunately, because of this fast warm-up, officials are warning of possible flash floods in various areas. Temperatures rapidly increasing could cause pipes to burst, along with the massive amounts of melting snow and ice.

Because of this sudden arctic blast, federal and state governments will possibly have to pay billions in order to keep their respective areas running. In some parts of the northern Midwest, specifically Michigan, gas organizations asked residence to turn down their heat, in order to handle the ever increasing demand across the state for warmth.

Much of what our neighbor to the north as been experiencing has been the same, but in some cases colder. In Toronto, the temperature has been recorded at -22 degrees. Warnings of active blizzards were lined up from Vancouver to Nova Scotia. Canada did not experience the same death toll as the U.S. did.