“It feels like – 32°C in Chicago. Mucus in your nose” freezes says Fleming Leentje De Leeuw, who is battling through America’s coldest winter storm.
Leentje, who now lives in Chicago, watched as temperatures continued to drop in recent days: “Every time I checked my smartphone the temperature had dropped a further degree”.
But Leentje won’t let Winter Storm Elliot get her down. She told us there was a Blizzard Pub Crawl last night and she went on it!
Leentje explains that parts of the country like Chicago and the Mid West are used to adverse weather conditions: “There’s good snow clearance. The buses are running. Everything continues. Only a little slower”.
Leentje is worried about the homeless: “It’s dangerous for them. That’s why schools and sports halls have been turned into centres where the homeless can warm up”.
In Chicago most electricity cables are underground, but in parts of the US where this isn’t the case, this can be a problem in such weather.
1.5 million people are without energy, “a shocking number” says Leentje.
Media reports speak of chaos at airports where thousands of flights have been cancelled. People did get advance warning of the adverse weather and many people are attempting to change their plans for the holidays. It’s not proving possible for everybody. Leentje’s friend wanted to travel to New Zealand to see her grandfather, possibly for the last time, but that now won’t be possible.
Leentje expects temperatures in Chicago to return to around freezing by Tuesday or Wednesday.