U.S. storm: At least 38 dead across 14 States as cold lingers in central, eastern parts

A severe winter storm has claimed 38 lives across 14 states, leaving millions under cold warnings as temperatures plummet.

At least 38 ‍people across 14 States had died as of Tuesday (January 27, 2026) from a powerful winter storm that left much of the central and ​eastern U.S. gripped by snow, ice, and below-freezing temperatures, according to local officials and news reports.

The ‌storm started to develop on Friday (January 23, 2026) and dumped snow across a large region over ​the weekend. The snow snarled road traffic and led to widespread flight cancellations and power outages before subsiding Monday (January 26, 2026), leaving behind bitter cold that is expected to linger.

By Tuesday (January 27, 2026), cities were mobilising emergency responders and resources to ensure that residents, particularly homeless people, were safe, even as more than 550,000 homes and businesses across the country lacked electricity.

Ten of the storm’s fatal victims were in New York City, where temperatures were the coldest they had been in eight years, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference on Tuesday (January 27, 2026), when the low ​hit 8 degrees Fahrenheit.

While the 10 victims were found outside, it was not clear whether they ⁠were homeless. Mr. Mamdani told reporters Monday (January 26, 2026) that some of the dead “had had interactions with our shelter system in the past. It is still too early to share a broader diagnosis or a cause of death.”

New York City postponed from this week until early February an ​annual count of its homeless population required ⁠by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development