11 Dead From Cold as Winter Blast Ravages East Coast

As a brutal winter storm bears down on the East Coast on Wednesday, 11 people have already died across the U.S. due to cold-related deaths during this cold spell. The storm is expected to strengthen rapidly as it heads north, and authorities are urging people from Florida north through Maine to stay indoors. The extraordinarily strong offshore formation will “resemble a winter hurricane,” The Washington Post reports, with snow and forceful winds. New York’s Long Island and New England will experience the heaviest snowfall totals. The blast is on top of a deep freeze throughout the Midwest and New England that left 90 percent of the U.S. below 32 degrees on New Year’s Day.