Polar vortex leaves more than two dozen dead

Hundreds suffer injuries from weather

CHICAGO -- The dangerous cold and heavy snow that hobbled the northern U.S. this week has retreated, but not before exacting a human toll: more than two dozen weather-related deaths in eight states and hundreds of injuries, including frostbite, broken bones, heart attacks and carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Illinois alone, hospitals reported more than 220 cases of frostbite and hypothermia since Tuesday, when the polar vortex moved in and overnight temperatures plunged to minus 30 or lower -- with wind chills of minus 50 or worse in some areas.

Locally, multiple accidents were reported along Interstate 76 and Interstate 80 in Austintown, Milton and Jackson townships Friday morning because of icy road conditions, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Just before 8:30 a.m., a four-vehicle crash ocurrred in the eastbound lane of Interstate 80 just west of state Route 46 in Austintown. Police said a vehicle in the center lane lost control and collided with three vehicles in the right lane. The first vehicle then struck the bridge wall over Meander Reservoir, the patrol said.

As traffic started backing up behind the initial crash, chain reacation crashes started happening as motorists were unable to stop because of the icy roads. A crash involving a tractor-trailer, a van and a car resulted in HazMat being called because the fuel tank on the tractor-trailer ruptured, the patrol said.

The semitrailer was trying to avoid the initial crash when the driver lost control and went off the road. He lost about 100 gallons of diesel fuel, according to the patrol.

No one was hurt in any of the crashes, but the interstates were dotted with vehicles off the road for several hours.

Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis normally sees around 30 frostbite patients in an entire winter. It admitted 18 in the past week, spokeswoman Christine Hill said Friday.

"I definitely saw more frostbite than I've ever seen in my entire career just in the last three days," said Dr. Andrea Rowland-Fischer, an emergency department physician at Hennepin Healthcare.

Most of those patients, she said, had underlying problems that made it difficult for them to take care of themselves: the developmentally delayed, the mentally ill, the very young and the very old. They also included people with injuries related to drugs and alcohol.

"It's heartbreaking when there are people who can't take care of themselves and get exposed, just because they either escape from the care that they're being given or because they're not being supervised."

Others got frostbite on their way to work after being exposed to the cold for a short time, often on their hands, feet, ears and face. That included people whose cars would not start or who got stuck outside for other reasons, as well as those who just did not think they could get frostbitten so quickly and went outside without gloves or other protective gear.