‘Intense’ US blizzard blows Iowa caucus campaigning off course

DES MOINES - Plunging temperatures, whipping wind and buckets of snow derailed the final stretch of caucus campaigning in the American state of Iowa on Jan 12 as Republican presidential hopefuls delivered their last pitches to voters.

Forecasters warned of

“fairly intense blizzard conditions”

throughout much of the Midwestern state, as the National Weather Service (NWS) said gusts of 80km to 89km per hour, paired with blowing snow, could reduce visibility to 400m.

The extreme weather was making life difficult for White House hopefuls Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who both cancelled events just days before the caucus in Iowa on Jan 15 – the first vote of the 2024 White House race.

“We want everyone to be safe,” Mr DeSantis told reporters in the state capital Des Moines.

The wind was howling very strongly in the city, where the temperature had fallen to minus 14 deg C. The storm will be followed by an “Arctic outbreak” of “bitter cold”, according to the NWS, with wind chill falling below minus 43 deg C in Iowa and across the region over the weekend.

Another 5cm or more of snow had also been predicted for the state, for a total of up to 25cm in some areas, creating whiteout conditions.

Dozens of cars and trucks were seen overturned in Des Moines, and the Iowa State Patrol said on social media they had performed 436 “motorists assists” on Jan 12 before 10pm.

“Treacherous driving is expected to continue through the rest of today and into tonight,” the state’s local NWS posted on social media. “Travel is highly discouraged!”

In an update, it said blizzard conditions would continue into Saturday “followed by dangerous cold and wind chills through the weekend & early next week”.

The weather raised serious concerns over caucus turnout as Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis

seek to overtake former president Donald Trump,

who is leading polls for the Republican presidential nomination by a wide margin nationally and in Iowa.

The state’s Republican Governor Kim Reynolds promised, “we’re going to get people to the polls on caucus night”, regardless of the weather.

Former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor Haley moved all of Jan 12’s events online, even as she had implored Iowans to not let the weather stop them from showing up on Jan 15.

“I’ll brave anything we need to,” Mr DeSantis told reporters standing outside in the snow. “We want to win, we’re here to get every vote we can,” said the 40-year-old, hoping to face Democrat President Joe Biden in the general election later this year.

But Trump, whose campaign also announced a weather-adjusted schedule including several virtual rallies, is counting on a resounding win in Iowa to help him quickly seal up the nomination as his four criminal indictments loom.

“It’s gonna be a little bit of a trek. Nobody knows how exactly we’re gonna get there, but we’re gonna figure it out,” Trump said in a video on his Truth Social platform. “We wouldn’t miss it for anything,” he added.

Flight chaos

Flights carrying thousands of reporters and political observers to Iowa were cancelled or rerouted to neighbouring states, also facing fallout from the massive storm.

More than 2,000 flights were cancelled across the US, including over 400 at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, said flightaware.com.

By Jan 12 evening, the lights were back on for most customers in Illinois, where local media reported that over 100,000 had lost power in the day as wind and snow pummelled the state.

Further west, the NWS said Montana and the Dakotas could see temperatures as low as minus 45 deg C. “These extreme apparent temperatures will pose a risk of frostbite on exposed skin and hypothermia,” it warned.

The winter weather was also threatening key football games over the weekend, as the NFL enters its post-season. While Missouri’s Kansas City Chiefs are more used to the cold predicted for Jan 13’s game, the opposing Miami Dolphins are used to Florida’s balmy weather.

Snow was also expected in the western US, as a storm system collides with freezing Arctic air.

Forecasters said there could be considerable accumulation over parts of Oregon, Idaho and Utah, while sleet and freezing rain were expected on Jan 12 and 13 in the South and North-east.

The storms come on the heels of severe cold weather that slammed much of the US earlier in the week, causing several deaths and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. AFP