More deaths reported in severe U.S. snow storms

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sixteen people have been reported killed by a severe snow storm moving through the north-eastern U.S. after disrupting Christmas in the Midwest, according to BBC News.

States in New England are seeing heavy snowfall, with over a foot (30cm) already fallen in parts of Massachusetts, weather officials said.

Flights were grounded and road collisions reported as the storm moved across the middle of the US. As many as 34 tornadoes were reported across the South on Christmas Day.

The storm moved across northern New England on Thursday, Dec 27 afternoon. Heavy snow was also reported in eastern parts of Canada.

Lebanon, Maine reported 12in of snow, with up to 18 inches expected in the state and nearby Vermont and New Hampshire by the end of Thursday.

In Coudersport, Pennsylvania, where the storm has stopped, the National Weather Service reported 15 inches.

Hundreds of thousands of people are reported to have lost power, including 200,000 people in Arkansas and Alabama, where ice and 10 inches of snow coated electricity wires snapping poles and wires.

Storm-related deaths were reported in New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the Associated Press said.

Falling trees claimed the lives of two people in Texas and Louisiana. A New York man was killed after his vehicle skidded on an icy road and an Ohio teenager died after losing control of her car and crashing into an oncoming snowplough.

Inbound flights were delayed in Philadelphia and at the three New York area airports, as thousands of travelers were trying to return home after Christmas. Flights were also cancelled in Canada, with Toronto and Montreal affected.