About a million homes were without power as a bitter cold winter blast hit states from coast-to-coast bringing high winds, ice, and blizzard conditions.
Michigan was hit hardest by the outages, which left more than 820,000 customers without electricity in the state, according to ABC News.
"That's a level we haven't seen in nearly 50 years," said Matt Paul, a vice-president for DTE, one of the largest power companies in the state. He added that the extreme weather downed more than 2,000 power lines and caused utility poles to break, according to the Guardian.
To make matters worse, gusty winds and the bitter cold made it more difficult for power crews to try to get electricity restored.
A volunteer firefighter in Paw Paw, Michigan, died Wednesday evening when a power line fell on him.
Meanwhile, widespread power outages were also reported in Illinois, California, New York, and Wisconsin, according to the website PowerOutage.us.
Blizzard conditions left a foot of snow in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. In Minneapolis the blowing snow had closed schools Thursday and by nightfall the region was hit with bitter cold.
Storms already have battered the Plains states and northern regions of the country for days and the National Weather Service predicted continuing problems from ice, snow, and freezing rain into the weekend.
In the Pacific Northwest, much of Oregon's largest city was shut down after almost a foot of snow fell unexpectedly. It took drivers in Portland by surprise, stalling traffic during the Wednesday evening rush hour and trapping motorists on freeways, some of whom spent the night in their cars.
Maia Foley-Weintraub's five-year-old son had to spend the night at daycare because she was stuck in snow-stalled traffic for nine hours. In a moment of panic during that time, her van slid down an icy hill, forcing her to use the emergency brake. It took her until 2 a.m. Thursday to make it home safely.
The snow began to melt later in the day but as temperatures dropped and night fell, roads became slick with black ice.
By mid-afternoon on Thursday the storm moved into the Northeast bringing more snow and freezing rain, ABC News reported.
Meanwhile a storm was set to pound California on Friday, sparking warnings about floods and blizzards.
The National Weather Service warned of a "cold and dangerous winter storm" through Saturday. As much as five feet of snow could fall in some mountains near Los Angeles, which could create whiteout conditions as winds gust to 75 mph, and an increased risk of avalanches, forecasters said.
The weather service issued rare blizzard warnings for Southern California mountain areas and urged drivers to avoid dangerous roads.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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