US authorities warned Friday of a “dangerous winter storm” in Iowa where Republican voters are gathering for their party’s first presidential primary, as the United States faces a severe cold snap .
A large part of the country has been hit in recent days by heavy rain and snow brought by a winter storm which left several dead and deprived hundreds of thousands of homes of electricity.
“Every state in the United States is on yellow, orange or red alert,” warned the national weather service, the NWS, on X (formerly Twitter).
In the central United States, Iowa will even experience a “dangerous winter storm until Saturday morning,” he indicated on his site, with “wind gusts of 56 to 72 km/h” and a “snow accumulation of 7 to 15 cm.”
With “blizzard conditions” and “strong winds,” travel may be “dangerous” or even “impossible in rural areas,” the NWS warned.
The city of Des Moines, capital of Iowa, was completely covered in snow on Friday, with cars and trucks overturned on the road, noted an AFP journalist on site.
Several flights have been canceled, while Republican voters must flock for their party’s first primary, with Donald Trump prance at the top of the polls, in view of the presidential election in November against the Democratic candidate, probably President Joe Biden.
Former President Trump, but also his main rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, canceled several events in Iowa due to weather conditions.
The storm is expected to intensify across the country, with snow across the Midwest and severe thunderstorms in the South, while temperatures are expected to drop to -34°C in the northern Plains, according to CNN.
In the north, the busy Chicago airport was closed Friday morning due to snow and ice, with hundreds of flights canceled across the region.
