Millions in the US brace for devastating winter storm as Trump questions global warming

New Delhi: The United States is bracing itself against a potentially 'catastrophic' winter weather that can affect over 160 million people across the country.

People will reportedly face transportation chaos, blackouts, and life-threatening cold due to the winter weather, as supermarket shelves were emptied on Friday. There is a chance of freezing rain and heavy snow from Friday evening, and the weather system will impact the continental US.

The dangerous monster storm looming over the US has forced 16 states and Washington, D.C., to declare emergencies. Places that typically do not experience prolonged Arctic temperatures are bracing for power failures and supply shortages. The huge winter weather system is forming in parts of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains and surges across southern and midwestern areas from Friday.

According to the National Weather Service, the 'catastrophic ice accumulation' as a result of the winter weather can potentially cause 'long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions'. The situation may particularly worsen for many states that rarely face intense winter weather.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt has asked residents to stay indoors and prepare for the dangerous winter storm expected to hit his city, where snowfall rarely takes place. The National Weather Service has reported freezing rain and sleet in parts of Texas as the winter storm begins to impact the state. Freezing rain has taken place in the Texas Big Country, a region in the middle of the state.

So far, over 2,700 weekend flights have been cancelled as Democratic Governor in New York State, Kathy Hochul, warned residents to stay inside. Authorities in many places have warned of a life-threatening cold that could last a week after the storm, putting people at risk of frostbite if they go outside even for some minutes. As a result, the shelves of supermarkets are becoming empty as people queue up in large numbers to stock up to last the weather.

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Amid such a scenario, US President Donald Trump on Friday took to his social media platform Truth Social and said, "Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before. Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain – WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???"

Trump has always be critical about the concept of climate change, and has even called it a "hoax." He has refuted claims of experts about global warming as a "political agenda" and led the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement twice, once in 2020 and then in 2025.