Major snowstorm in Europa and America

Germany and Austria send in the troops and tanks to rescue homeowners in Europe as monster snowstorm blanket's more than half of United States

The Big Wobble,

13 January, 2019

Germany and Austria send in the troops and tanks to rescue homeowners from neck-deep snow in Germany and Austria as the whiteout looked to continue past the weekend.

Police say three German skiers have been killed in an avalanche in the Austrian Alps and a fourth is missing.

The bodies of the men, aged 57, 36 and 32, were recovered Saturday evening near Lech, a few hours after the wife of one of the skiers reported them missing.

Police in Vorarlberg, Austria's westernmost province, said Sunday they had to call off the search for another German, age 28, because of heavy snow and the risk of avalanches.

The avalanche deaths bring to at least 24 the number of weather-related deaths reported in parts of Europe this month.

According to Reuters, a winter storm that dumped heavy snow on the U.S. Midwest, causing at least five roadway deaths, stranding some motorists in Missouri and cancelling dozens of flights, marched east toward Washington on Saturday.

The weather system, which started as rain from Mexico but has since turned into snow, is forecast to affect an 1,800-mile (2,900 km) swath of the United States from Colorado to the Mid-Atlantic.

The storm hit Kansas and Missouri on Friday and pummeled those states again on Saturday as it extended into parts of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, said U.S. Weather Prediction Center meteorologist Andrew Orrison.

While snow tapers off across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana on Sunday, residents of the mid-Atlantic will face power outages, slick roads and travel delays as snow and ice continue to pile up on Sunday. “For many areas, this will be a long-duration winter storm event that lasts more than 12 hours and perhaps as long as 48 hours in some cases,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.