A pedestrian narrowly escaped being crushed by an out-of-control car on an icy Seattle hill, one of a series of vehicular catastrophes that have in many cases resulted in fatalities due to stormy conditions over much of the United States.
A once-in-a-generation storm was growing throughout the majority of the United States on Friday, as blizzard conditions and hurricane-force winds delayed thousands of flights and left nearly 1.5 million homes without electricity.
A separate arctic storm has brought substantial icing to Seattle in the Pacific Northwest.
A video taken in Seattle’s Belltown district shows a car rolling down a slope and striking a person, but fortunately only knocking them away and not crushing them.
Clearly attempting to reach the pavement, a person lies on the ground as a car suddenly begins to skid barely feet away.
As the car heads down the hill, the individual is able to deflect away after first attempting to block the car and prevent it from striking them.
According to KOMO, when first responders arrived on the site, they discovered an elderly couple inside the vehicle with “very minor injuries.”
To prevent the pair from sliding down the ice, they had to use ropes and stretchers to haul them back up the hill.
In a different video captured by a reporter near Judkin’s Park in Seattle, two individuals narrowly avoid being struck by an out-of-control Rolls-Royce as it careens down the road.
KIRO reports that thankfully no one was injured.
More than 10,000 aircraft were also delayed due to the weather, and the confusion is likely to continue even after the storm has passed. Friday morning, Seattle-Tacoma Airport closed its runways indefinitely to de-ice the surfaces.
Due to hazardous weather in areas of a number of states, including Minnesota and Iowa, all bus service was suspended in the greater Seattle area on Friday morning, and DoorDash suspended all deliveries.
Even though the nation had reached its typically busiest travel season, motorists were cautioned not to venture to the highways.
After a 50-vehicle collision on the Ohio Turnpike, four individuals have died ‘due to weather-related traffic accidents’ in Ohio, and several others have been injured, according to Governor Mike DeWine.
According to a state police spokesperson, the first collision occurred about 11:45 a.m. on Friday, and the massive pileup occurred around 12:30 p.m.
They stated, “This will continue for some time. Numerous soldiers and first responders are currently addressing the situation.
The ferocious ‘bomb cyclone’ is ‘gaining power rapidly,’ threatening Midwest regions with temperatures colder than Mars.
A few days before Christmas, the devastating Arctic storm endangered the holiday plans of millions of Americans and generated national alerts.
Snow is forcing hundreds of airline cancellations ahead of the biggest weekend of the year throughout nearly two-thirds of the United States, which is under a winter weather alert. FlightAware said that 3,100 flights were canceled on Friday alone, following the cancellation of hundreds more on Thursday.
Tens of millions of Americans are preparing for the coldest Christmas in living memory, with Florida, Georgia, and Pennsylvania cities anticipating record-breaking lows.
At least ten people were killed this week in storm-related crashes in Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio, and Oklahoma, including a 50-car pile-up in Ohio and 100 crashes reported in London, Ontario, just north of the Canadian border.
Friday saw the cancellation of 357 flights, or 63% of departures, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The FAA removed a ground halt there due to snow and ice, but delays averaged over three hours as of Friday night.
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