A 69-year-old FedEx worker and a 90-year-old woman are among the 21 people found frozen to death across the midwest and northeast as the polar vortex has wreaked havoc across the United States in recent days.
Police said a colleague found the body of William L. Murphy, 69, between two semitrailers at FedEx’s East Moline, Illinois, facility Thursday morning, when Moline hit a record low of minus 33F (-36 Celsius).
Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said Murphy’s death ‘appears to be medical or natural’ and that an autopsy scheduled for Monday will determine if the frigid temperature played a role.
FedEx worker William L. Murphy, 69, was found between two semitrailers at the companys East Moline, Illinois, facility Thursday morning, when Moline hit a record low of minus 33F
Pedestrians walk as snow falls in Washington DC Friday after brutally cold temperatures gripped the US Midwest
A US Secret Service officer guards the White House as snow falls Friday
The bitterly cold weather has held much of the region in a historic deep freeze
The company said: ‘We are saddened by the loss of our team member and our sympathies go out to his family and friends.’
In Southwestern Michigan, Ada Salna, 90, died in the extreme cold after locking herself out of her home while she was feeding her birds and cats.
WOOD-TV said Salna was found covered with snow on the steps of her home Wednesday at about 1.30pm near Three Rivers in St. Joseph County, Michigan. Salna’s property was said to have been fairly isolated and had not been plowed since the snow started falling earlier in the week.
Pathologist Joyce deJong said Salna died of hypothermia. Blood loss from a cut she sustained while trying to get back into her home also contributed to her death.
In Minnesota’s Carver County, authorities responding to a report of a car accident on Monday evening found Amy Debower, 46, of Chaska, Minnesota, dead outside her vehicle.
The deadly polar vortex wreaking havoc across the US has left at least 21 people dead, including college student, Gerald Belz
Carver County Sheriff Jason Kamerud said a preliminary investigation suggested the extreme weather may have been a factor in Debower’s death. The investigation is ongoing.
Also among those who died during the polar vortex was 18-year-old University of Illinois student Gerald Belz, of Cedar Rapids, Illinois.
Campus police found Belz behind an academic hall on campus just before 3am Wednesday by campus police. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The university said in a statement to The Chicago Tribune that police think Belz’s death was linked to the weather and do not suspect foul play.
Belz’s father, Michael Belz, told KWWL that doctors said that there was no alcohol in his son’s system at the time he likely froze to death.
Belz’s family said he was studying pre-med and that he had just graduated last May from Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to a home in Cudahy on Thursday after a man was found frozen solid and dead in his backyard. It was the same day temperatures plunged to record lows in several Midwestern cities.
Councilman Gary Sammons, 70, was found dead in Detroit in front of a neighbor’s home on Tuesday, while Amy Debower, 46, of Minnesota, was found dead outside her vehicle following a likely car accident on Monday
No details about the man or what preceded his death were immediately released. An autopsy is scheduled.
Authorities in New York said the death of a homeless man whose frozen body was found in a suburban Buffalo bus shelter might be related to the arctic cold that has blanketed much of the northern U.S. this week.
An autopsy was planned to determine whether the man found in the village of Williamsville, New York, froze to death or died of another cause. His name wasn’t immediately released.
In Detroit, Gary Sammons, 70, was found dead in front of a neighbor’s home on Tuesday.
In Milwaukee, a 38-year-old woman was found frozen in her unheated apartment on Wednesday and a 55-year-old man was found frozen to death in his garage after he collapsed shoveling snow.
An 82-year-old central Illinois man died after authorities say he was found by a neighbor several hours after he fell trying to get into his home.
In northern Indiana, a young couple were killed when their SUV struck another on a snowy road. And also in Indiana, one person died early Friday morning in a crash involving a salt truck on the Interstate 70. Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine told The Indianapolis Star that the crash happened about 6:15am Friday near Monrovia in Hendricks County.
Perrine said the Indiana Department of Transportation salt truck pulled over due to a mechanical issue and its hazard lights were on. He said another vehicle struck the truck’s rear and the person in that vehicle died.
The crash happened as a storm moved across Indiana, bringing up to three inches of snow. It follows a deep freeze that saw temperatures as low as minus 25F (-31 C) in LaPorte, Iowa, on Thursday morning. The National Weather Service said the wind chill in Iowa around 3am was -51F.
Water main breaks and burst pipes have disrupted operations at several facilities in Michigan amid bitterly cold weather, including a Detroit court and a university library.
The frigid conditions are starting to ease, and a dramatic swing of as much as 80 degrees is expected within days in parts of the region.
At least 21 people have died during the freezing temperatures that have gripped the Midwest and Northeast
A woman is hit by a snow ball while posing for a picture in front of the White House as snow falls in Washington Friday
An icebreaking tugboat of the U.S. Coast Guard cuts through ice as it makes its way north on the Hudson River between the cities of Kingston and Albany on Friday
There could be a swing of as much as 80 degrees within days in parts of the region
Experts say the rapid thawing is unprecedented and could create problems of its own such as bursting pipes, flooding rivers and crumbling roads
Past cold waves have not dissipated this quickly according to forecasters
Temperatures that have been below zero for up to three consecutive days from central Minnesota to northern Illinois are now expected to trend upward to the 30s and 40s over the weekend, according to AccuWeather.
Meanwhile, Chicago, Detroit, New York City and Boston, which were also battered by freezing temperatures, could see highs in the 50s.
Rockford, Illinois, saw a record-breaking minus 31F (minus 35 Celsius) on Thursday but should be around 50F (10 Celsius) on Monday. Other previously frozen areas can expect temperatures of 55F (13 Celsius) or higher.
The rapid thaw brings with it a host of its own problems, however, as a flood warning remains in effect along the Muskegon River in western Michigan due to an ice jam, which could result in bridge closures and other types of travel delays. Potholes could also form as the temperature rises.
Jeff Masters is meteorology director of the Weather Underground firm. He says past cold waves have not dissipated this quickly.
More cold weather is expected to hit the northern Rockies and northern Plains, AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said, although it won’t be as frigid as what the midwest and northeast experienced over the past week.