
Millions of people have been left stranded by the winter storm that has killed 34 people across the United States and is expected to claim more lives, The Guardian reports.
Many of the dead were found frozen in their cars after being stranded by the storm.
The extent of the storm was on a rare scale, stretching from Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60% of the US population was warned of winter weather and temperatures dropped drastically from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians.
"In some areas, being outside can lead to freezing within minutes," the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The service advised anyone traveling or going out to "prepare for extreme cold by dressing, covering as much exposed skin as possible and packing winter safety kits in vehicles".
The storm has led to casualties in several states including Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New York.
Across the border in Canada, authorities said a bus crashed on an icy highway in British Columbia on Christmas Eve, killing four people and injuring three others.
The winter storm also hit Ontario and Quebec in recent days, causing flight cancellations and school closures and power outages for hundreds of thousands of customers.
In the US, among the hardest hit localities was Buffalo, where two days of heavy snow and strong winds created conditions that local officials said were the worst since 1977.