Severe deep freeze hits US
For the first half of Officer Kraig Kalka's shift, the temperature outside hovered at about zero. Within hours, he knew, the air would dive toward negative double digits, part of a dangerous 48-hour deep freeze across much of the Midwest.
Wisconsin knows winter, and winter around here is usually cold, blustery and snow-filled. But Tuesday, Kalka patrolled through Wisconsin's capital city with a sharp deadline - the real cold was set to roll in when the day grew dark - and he had lives to save.
"This is historic cold," Kalka said as he drove between homeless shelters, arranging transportation for those stuck on the streets and collecting blankets and hand warmers to dole out downtown for some of Madison's most vulnerable residents. "What we're going to see, I don't remember ever seeing something like that before."
All across the Midwest this week, preparations were underway in neighborhoods, on farms and in homeless shelters for a bone-deep, relentless chill expected through Thursday. Nearly 90 million people are likely to experience temperatures at or below zero in the Midwest and New England, according to the National Weather Service; 25 million of them will face temperatures below minus-20 - dips that when combined with wind can cause frostbite in a matter of minutes.
