'It's dangerous': Biden warns against holiday travel plans as 'Bomb Cyclone' smashes US

US President Joe Biden warns Americans traveling ahead of the holiday season to maintain precautions as a once-in-a-generation “Bomb Cyclone” hits the US. On Thursday morning, the US President briefed the officials from the National Weather Service and FEMA in the Oval Office. Addressing the gathering, the 80-year-old US President said, "The storm — extreme cold weather — you can see it on the map the estimated areas where they’re at the — you know, as low as 50 degrees; where it’s that dark red, it’s below zero." The US President then went on to emphasise the severity of the US winter storm as he stated, “You know, it’s dangerous and threatening. This is really a very serious weather alert here.  And it goes from Oklahoma all the way to Wyoming and Wyoming to Maine.  And it’s of real consequence."

Keeping into consideration that many Americans will be traveling across the country due to the Christmas holiday, the US President urged people to leave before things get worse. “If you all have travel plans, leave now. Not — not a joke," said Biden. Alerting the citizens about the situation, the US President stated that he is letting his staff leave before the situation became severe. He asserted, “It’s not life and death. But it will be if they don’t — if they don’t get out, they may not get out”. The recent warning from the US President came after forecasters warned more than 100 million Americans to brace for a “Bomb Cyclone”. The states in Central America are currently struck by severe winter weather as temperature goes to single digits. 

Americans struggle to travel as thousands of flights canceled

As the historic US winter storm crashes the different states of the US, Sky news reported that more than 2,200 flights, in and out of the US have been cancelled. The cancellation of the flights amid the life-threatening winter storm sparked chaos in several airports. The US President made it clear that people should “pay heed” to all the warnings and take them very seriously. Biden exclaimed, “I encourage everyone — everyone, please heed the local warnings.  We’ve contacted — we’ve tried to contact 26 governors so far in affected regions”. Making it clear how severe the situation is, Biden maintained that “this is not like a snow day, you know, when you were a kid; this is serious stuff."

The Arctic blast in the region is not only causing extreme cold and intense snow storms in the US, but the weather system also has the potential to build into a “bomb cyclone”. The rare cyclone caused by the Arctic blast is expected to move towards the east, disrupting the holiday plans for most Americans. However, the West coast will remain shielded from torrential weather.