Transcript for Arctic cold stops USPS mail delivery in parts of 10 states
with this dangerous cold not turning deadly. Those wind chills as low as 65 degrees below zero. At least eight people are dead tonight. Look at this. Steam rising off the water of lake Michigan in Chicago. Amtrak setting fire along the train tracks just to keep the trains moving. Whiteout conditions from lake effect snow near Buffalo. Several major pileups being reported tonight. Thousands of flights canceled nationwide. They can’t keep up with the de-iing equipment. Tonight morning, wind chills 44 below in Minneapolis. 43 below in Chicago, and look, all the way east there. It will feel like 16 below here in New York City, 18 below in Boston. Tonight, right here, you’ll see theless kuehls and the firefighters forced to battle the flames in this very dangerous cold. ABC’s Alex Perez leading us off from Chicago. Reporter: Tonight, that arctic air firing up the lake effect snow machine, bringing several feet of snow to western New York. Vehicles crashing in whiteout conditions in the Buffalo area. Snow squalls in Pennsylvania causing multiple pileups on highways, including this one outside reading. Motor vehicle accident. Injuries reported. Anywhere between 20 and 40 vehicles involved. Reporter: This, as the midwest is gripped by record-breaking cold. Chicago is like a ghost-town right now. The city is marking one of its coldest days many of us have ever seen. Reporter: In Chicago, warm city buses to help get people out of the cold. Is anybody here? Reporter: Teams of social workers handing out blankets, gloves and socks. I think regardless of all our efforts, we’re still going to see a lot of people that are not going to make it. Reporter: The 50 below wind chill means frostbite can take hold in just five minutes. For severe cases, northwestern memorial hospital using this device called a bear hugger. So, what’s happening now? So, what you’re seeing here is basically warm air is circulating over the patient, and that way, maintaining this warmth, getting their core body temperature back up to physiologic parameters. Reporter: It’s so cold that the postal service stopped mail delivery in parts of ten states. But some workers have no choice but to be outside, like these firefighters in Hammond, Indiana. Thousands of flights cancelled. Our David Kerley on the tarmac at minneapolis-st. Paul airport this morning. The real enemy here is not the cold, as far as flying, it’s the cold, as far as ice. If it gets onto the wings, it can ruin the aerodynamics of the aircraft. Reporter: Back in Chicago, they’re using fire to keep the trains running. Amtrak canceling all service in and out of the city today and tomorrow. Even shipping lanes are frozen over. Our Tom llamas is on U.S. Coast guard cutter morro bay on lake St. Clair in Michigan. The ice is about six to ten inches thick in some parts. And the coast guard tells us, it is so cold that when they actually cut ice in these conditions, they make more ice. You can see some of that right there. The deep V line it’s cutting, the ice just reconnects. They’re telling us this is too dangerous for any ship besides this one. Reporter: In Wisconsin, the coast guard helping rescue seven people stuck on the ice. And now, that bone-chilling cold is moving east. Just incredible pictures from you Alex, and our entire team fanned out across the storm zone. I know you’re live right there on the Chicago river tonight, completely frozen over. And you were telling us it’s going to be even colder there tomorrow? Reporter: David, that’s right. It was 23 below zero tier today. It felt like 52 below zero. That’s the coldest it’s felt here in a quarter century. And, tomorrow, possibly more record-breaking bitter sub-zero cold. David? You’ve been a good sport for us, Alex, thank you. You know those intense snow squalls you saw in Alex’s piece in Pennsylvania, they blew through New York City this afternoon. Look at the time lapse, showing the quick hit of snow. That’s New York City’s west side highway. And that’s exactly where we find Sam champion tonight, live right along the highway. Sam, I know it moved through quickly, it was blinding, but the wind is howling behind it. Reporter: Oh, David, it is screaming. It has been screaming since that front moved through. We’ve dropped to 16 degrees right now. A 38-mile-per-hour wind on the west side highway. That puts the wind chill at right around zero. Let’s get to the maps. What we’ve got ahead of us for the next 24 hours. So, blizzard warnings for the lake effect snow and all of this wind. There’s that 16 degree temperature in New York. Detroit’s at minus 9 right now, actual temperature. Here’s what’s waiting for your Thursday morning. Look at that, minus 16 in new York. Pittsburgh at 19 below. Let me give you the good news, David, and that is by the weekend, we’re on a warmup. I can’t say we won’t remember this, because I think I always will, but it will be certainly above Normal by the time we get to Saturday and Sunday, David.
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