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In this image created from video provided by KGW, authorities inspect the scene after an ice storm caused power lines to fall on a vehicle, killing three people and injuring a baby in Portland, Oregon, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Dangerous roads and mountain highways in the Pacific Northwest.
AP
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In this image created from video provided by KGW, authorities inspect the scene after an ice storm caused power lines to fall on a vehicle, killing three people and injuring a baby in Portland, Oregon, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Dangerous roads and mountain highways in the Pacific Northwest.
AP
PORTLAND, Ore. – Three people were killed and a baby was injured Wednesday when a power line fell on a parked car northeast of Portland, Oregon, during an ice storm that made roads and mountain highways in the Pacific Northwest treacherous.
Just before noon, rescue workers began receiving frantic calls about power lines down and people appearing to have been electrocuted, according to a statement from the city's fire department. A tree branch fell on a power line and landed on top of the SUV, the statement said.
As the chaotic situation unfolded, a resident grabbed the baby to save its life from one of the people who had fallen in the street, according to the statement. The three dead, including two adults and one teenager, were found dead upon firefighters' arrival, and the baby was taken to the hospital. The victims are believed to have been electrocuted after exiting the vehicle, the statement said.
The statement added that the power company later de-energized the line, without specifying which company it was.
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Around Portland, the roads and sidewalks were so slippery that it was virtually impossible to drive or even walk. Icicles hung from roofs and cars, and tree branches, plants, and leaves were covered in ice that felt like thick glass.
Large swaths of the region were warned of up to an inch (2.5 centimeters) of ice on Wednesday, threatening further damage from the deadly, powerful storms that struck over the weekend. The warning area was reduced to southwest Washington and northwest Oregon, including Portland, late in the morning, and further restricted to the western edge of the Columbia River Gorge in the afternoon.
The National Weather Service says below-freezing rain is possible again in the region Thursday evening into Friday morning. The areas most likely to be affected are the eastern Portland metropolitan area and the western Columbia River Gorge.
Portland transit officials asked people to stay off the roads until Thursday morning, and many school districts, including Oregon's largest, canceled classes for a third straight day as roads continued to be slippery.
The three deaths on Wednesday add to at least seven people who died last weekend from fallen trees and suspected hypothermia during storms.
Daniel Buck, who lives just steps from where the deaths occurred in northeast Portland, told The Associated Press he heard an explosion and saw a person jump out of a car with downed power lines engulfed in flames. He said when he got closer he saw the man and two others on the ground about 10.7 meters from the car. The remaining power lines were down there. He said he saw one of the victim's pant legs catch on fire.
“No one could touch them to help them because they were all in contact with live wires,” said Buck, who described the victims as living in nearby apartments. “It was absolutely horrible.”
Diane Flaherty, who lives in a wooded neighborhood southwest of Portland, said her home has been without power since Saturday. That day, she left her house to stay with her brother-in-law, and saw that the large tree in her front yard began to sway in the strong wind.
“It was like a war zone,” she said, describing the sound of trees crashing as they fell on neighbors’ cars and houses. “We were really surprised.”
Canadian media reported that the storm caused flights to be canceled or delayed, including in Vancouver, British Columbia, where heavy snow blanketed cities and disrupted traffic.
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The storm pounded the northwestern corner of the country, while much of the rest of the country dealt with severe weather that put power supplies at risk in some areas. About 90,000 homes and businesses across the U.S., mostly in Oregon, were without power as of late Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us.
The National Weather Service said freezing temperatures spread south into northern Florida Wednesday morning.
The temperature in Chicago was 5 degrees Celsius (-15 degrees Celsius), and in Detroit it was 6 degrees Celsius (-14.4 degrees Celsius), much colder than the 18 degrees Celsius (-7.8 degrees Celsius) in Juneau, Alaska's capital. Some Midwesterners have seen a bright side.
“It’s probably the most beautiful time of year in Chicago,” Richard Wineberg said as he admired the snow-covered landscape.
In western New York, three deaths occurred in three days. Two people were injured while shoveling snow, and a third was struck by a vehicle while shoveling snow from a car, officials said Wednesday.
Five people have died after being struck by a tractor-trailer after exiting their vehicles following separate crashes on slippery roads on Interstate 81 in northeastern Pennsylvania. Investigators were still determining the exact cause.
Heavy lake effect snowfall was expected in Buffalo, with up to 10 centimeters of snow per hour expected to fall through the afternoon. The explosion comes just days after NFL playoff games were delayed by a day due to storms.
Early Wednesday morning, Patrick Sahr cleared snow from his car and Buffalo driveway after at least 18 inches (45.7 centimeters) of snow fell overnight over the weekend.
“I just want to keep up,” he said during a break.
On the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation near Fort Thompson, South Dakota, about 36 people stayed in shelters and the tribe paid for about 40 families to stay in motels. The tribe also provided propane and wood to heat the homes and plastic to cover the drafty windows of what tribal Chairman Peter Lengkeek called “substandard government housing.”
Although it is expensive, “you can’t put a price on life and suffering,” Lengkeek said.
Tennessee health officials have confirmed at least six weather-related deaths. Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the state's largest public school system with about 100,000 students, canceled classes Thursday.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies power to seven southern states, reported a preliminary record high for peak power demand Wednesday morning as average temperatures in the region fell to 4 degrees Celsius (minus 15.5 degrees Celsius).