Classes for Wednesday and Thursday were cancelled for students in the Midwest, including in Chicago, which has the nation's third-largest school system. Police issued warnings about the increased risk of accidents on icy highways. Michigan announced that all state offices would remain closed through Thursday. The US Postal Service, in an unusual move, halted deliveries in parts of the Dakotas through Ohio. A dozen deaths linked to extreme cold weather have been reported in Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota since Saturday. In Illinois, State Police officers rescued 21 people stranded in a charter bus that broke down due to sub-zero temperatures along Interstate 55 near Auburn after the diesel fuel in the engine turned to gel. In Detroit, a 70-year-old man was discovered deceased on a residential street on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the Detroit police. In the neighboring community of Ecorse, a former city councilman in his 70s was also found dead on Wednesday, dressed only in sleepwear, as reported by the local police. Additionally, a University of Iowa student was found dead outside a building on campus early on Wednesday, with the school attributing the death of Gerald Belz, a pre-med student, to the weather. Meanwhile, the streets of Chicago were deserted, with very few individuals braving the extremely cold temperatures of 18 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 28 Celsius). "It's awful!" exclaimed Pasquale Cappellano, a 68-year-old waiter, as he smoked a cigarette while waiting for a bus on Chicago's North Side. "I need to get my medication from Walgreens or I wouldn't have left the house." Meanwhile in Minneapolis, where temperatures dropped to minus 14 F (minus 26 C), Brian Pierce decided to brave the cold and observe cars struggling on icy roads. "The roads feel strange, like there's no traction," he remarked. "My teeth are hurting." TRAVELING TOWARD THE EAST Wind-chill temperatures dropped to as low as minus 42 F (minus 41 C) in Park Rapids, Minnesota, and minus 31 degrees F (minus 35 C) in Fargo, North Dakota, as reported by the National Weather Service (NWS). The freezing winds moved towards the East Coast of the United States on Wednesday, causing temperatures to plummet. Over a thousand flights, nearly two-thirds of the total, were cancelled on Wednesday at Chicago O'Hare and Chicago Midway international airports, according to FlightAware. Amtrak also cancelled all trains in and out of Chicago on Wednesday. Annie Carlson reported that her horses and sheep at Morning Joy Farm in Mercer, North Dakota were doing well, with the option to go into the barn if they wanted. Her chickens, ducks, and guinea hens were also comfortable in the 70-degree F (21 C) climate inside their hoop house. According to meteorologist Andrew Orrison from the NWS, International Falls, Minnesota experienced some of the coldest wind chills at minus 55 F (minus 48 C). The South Pole in Antarctica was experiencing warmer temperatures than usual, with an expected low of minus 24 F (minus 31 C) with wind chill. Temperatures in Chicago were set to drop significantly on Wednesday night, possibly breaking the record low of minus 27 F (minus 33 C) on Jan. 21, 1985. Banks and stores closed, and Waste Management Inc cancelled trash pickups in counties across the Midwest. The bitter cold was due to a disruption of the polar vortex, a stream of air that typically circulates around the North Pole but had shifted south. Officials in the Midwest have set up warming centres for those in need, including police stations in Chicago. Additionally, city buses have been transformed into mobile warming centres for the homeless, and police are distributing hats, jackets, and blankets. The Chicago Police Department is encouraging people to seek shelter from the cold, but not forcing anyone. Energy analysts predict that US homes and businesses will use unprecedented amounts of natural gas for heating on Wednesday. Xcel Energy requested that residents in the northern and northwestern areas of the Twin Cities in Minnesota reduce their thermostats to 60 F (16 C) due to strain on the natural gas supply system. The Michigan Agency for Energy announced that utility companies in the state would not disconnect gas or electric services for customers who were behind on payments for the remainder of the week. Source: New York Times News Service, 2019.