Travel at Christmas in the US is snarled by a wild winter storm.

On Saturday, a severe winter storm continued to cover a large portion of the United States, bringing with it blinding blizzards, freezing rain, flooding, and dangerously low temperatures that caused havoc for people making holiday travel plans.

The storm that struck earlier in the week brought down power lines, left mounds of cars involved in fatal collisions on the roadways, and caused several flight cancellations.

The storm’s size was almost unheard of, extending from the Rio Grande near Mexico’s border to the Great Lakes in Canada. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures fell sharply below average from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, affecting around 60% of the country’s population.

People in the Northeast were in risk of inland and coastal floods, while freezing rain covered much of the Pacific Northwest in a blanket of ice.

The meteorological agency warned that the arctic temperatures and strong winds would result in “dangerously cold wind chills across most of the central and eastern U.S. this holiday weekend,” and that they “would present a potentially life-threatening hazard for travellers that become stranded.”

People in the Northeast were in risk of inland and coastal floods, while freezing rain covered much of the Pacific Northwest in a blanket of ice.

The meteorological agency warned that the arctic temperatures and strong winds would result in “dangerously cold wind chills across most of the central and eastern U.S. this holiday weekend,” and that they “would present a potentially life-threatening hazard for travellers that become stranded.”

At least six people died in collisions, according to officials, and several motorways were shut down. A major pileup on the Ohio Turnpike involving over 50 automobiles resulted in at least two fatalities. A driver from Kansas City, Missouri, died on Thursday after swerving into a creek, while three other people died on Wednesday in separate accidents on slick roads in northern Kansas.

WestJet cancelled every flight at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada on Friday after local meteorologists issued a warning about a possible once-in-a-decade weather event. While in Mexico, migrants tented close to the U.S. border in exceptionally chilly weather while they awaited a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on limits from the epidemic era that bar many from applying for asylum.

Forecasters reported that a bomb cyclone, which occurs when atmospheric pressure rapidly decreases during a powerful storm, had formed close to the Great Lakes, causing blizzard-like conditions, including severe winds and snowfall.

Even residents of Florida were prepared for abnormally frigid weather for the holiday weekend as rare freeze warnings were issued for significant portions of the state.

Activists raced to get the homeless out of the cold. Early on Friday morning in Detroit, at a shelter and a warming center that can accommodate just 100 people, close to 170 adults and kids were keeping warm.

Although there were many more persons, Faith Fowler, executive director of Cass Community Social Services, which manages both institutions, said that it was not an option to turn anyone away.

As snow, freezing rain, ice, and extremely cold temperatures descended upon the region, emergency weather shelters in Portland, Oregon, issued a need for volunteers due to high demand and staffing concerns.

The National Guard will be sent out, according to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, to help with snow removal and transport wood to the Oglala and Rosebud Sioux tribes.

Wayne Boyd, the president of the Rosebud Sioux, said, “We have families that are way out there that we haven’t heard from in two weeks.”

As 12-foot (3.6-meter) snow drifts stopped the house on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Harlie Young was huddled with her father, five siblings, and five cousins around a wood heater.

She stated on Friday, “We’re just trying to see the positive side that they’re still coming and they didn’t forget us.

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, issued a state of emergency and referred to it as a “kitchen sink storm.” In several areas of New York City, tidal flooding Friday morning submerged streets, residences, and establishments.