Durban resident describes icy conditions in Chicago
A Durban business owner who's on holiday in Chicago has described the well below zero temperatures that are being experienced in the mid-western parts of the US.
The cold weather has been brought by the Polar Vortex which arrived earlier in the week.
Schools and businesses have been shut, while the US Postal Service has been suspended in several states.
So far - 21 deaths have been reported - most of them senior citizens.
Chicago's temperature plummeted to minus 20 Degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
Temperatures in Chicago this week plummeted to minus 20 Degrees Celsius. A Durban business owner who's on holiday in Chicago described the below zero temperatures experienced in the mid-western parts of the US. #PolarVortex2019
— Portia Cele (@misspcele) February 2, 2019
Video: Mari Govender pic.twitter.com/a7ryxv4G86
City authorities have suspended 2000 flights over the last three days - while railway tracks have been set on fire to keep the trains moving.
Mari Govender says they've been told Chicago last experienced similar weather conditions in the 80s.
"The city is literally covered in snow, pavements are white and rooftops are decked with snow. Wednesday, the 30th of January, was the coldest day ever recorded in Chicago at a temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius. Chicago was a ghost town - you couldn't see a single person walking on the streets," he said.
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