Authorities are continuing to investigate in the freezing weather to determine the cause of death.
Winter storm kills at least 60 people across the US
The winter storm that brought ice and snow to the South and Northeast has killed at least 60 people in more than a dozen states.
Dozens of names have been added to the growing death toll from the January 23-26 winter storm and the blast of polar air behind it, even as many Americans brace for the possibility of another storm.
At least 62 deaths had been reported across the country as of the evening of January 27, and authorities continue to investigate these and other cases.
In Northeast Texas’ Fannin County, three brothers, ages 6, 8 and 9, died after falling through ice on a pond, leaving the community heartbroken, Sheriff Cody Shook confirmed to USA TODAY. According to CBS News, the family was playing outside when the youngest boy fell through the ice, and his younger siblings tried to save him as his mother ran over to him.
A teenager was killed in a car and sled accident.
At least eight people died while shoveling or removing snow, authorities said. The American Heart Association has warned that shoveling snow, especially in frigid temperatures, can lead to heart attacks.
Adams County Coroner Francis Dutroux said the Indiana man, whose name has not been released, shoveled snow from his driveway three or four times on Jan. 25. “Finally, he returned home and collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.”
“That storm was bad. It’s about 15 degrees here, but it shows no signs of slowing down,” Dutroux said on January 27.
At least two women have died in house fires, a problem that tends to spike in the winter, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Just after midnight on January 26, a 96-year-old woman with dementia collapsed and died outside her home in South Carolina, according to the state Department of Public Health. She was one of more than 20 people whose deaths are believed to be related to hypothermia and exposure.
Winter storm deaths by state
New York state, where 10 people died outdoors, led the nation in deaths with 11 as of the end of January 27.
- 9 – Indiana
- 8 – Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas
- 4 – Mississippi and Pennsylvania
- 2 – Arkansas and Massachusetts
- 1 – Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina
How did a person die?
Authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of the deaths, which occurred amid temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius below normal and in some cases below freezing. For example, they are trying to pinpoint whether icy roads and snow were the cause of at least nine car fatalities during the storm.
Law enforcement officials are also investigating why Juanita Cannon, 54, was found dead outside her car in Evansville, Indiana, and Rubilio Mendez Reynoso, 31, of Buncombe County, North Carolina, was found dead lying on the side of the road with no evidence of wrongdoing.
In Henrico County, Virginia, police say they are trying to figure out what happened when a toddler had to be rescued from an icy pond on January 26th. The infant later died.
Henrico police said an adult male at the scene of the incident was treated for possible hypothermia.
Hospitals reported treating many people who had emergencies while shoveling snow. UMASS Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, where snow totals reached 22 inches, reported treating seven patients with severe heart attacks who had been shoveling snow for about 24 hours on January 25th and 26th.
3 Brothers fall into the ice, shaking the community
The three brothers, whose identities were not released by authorities citing family privacy, fell through the ice of a pond on private property outside Bonham, Texas, near the Oklahoma border.
According to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, first responders pulled the two oldest boys, ages 8 and 9, from the water with the help of neighbors, but the third child, 6, was not found until the pond was searched. The older boys were given first aid and taken away by ambulance. All three people were confirmed dead.
“They were just screaming and saying, ‘Help,'” her mother, Cheyenne Hungaman, told The Associated Press. “And I saw them all struggling to stay above the water. I saw them all fighting.”
Hangaman told The Associated Press that her daughter alerted her that the boys were in the water and ran across the street from where she was staying to help them, falling into the water herself.
“I grabbed it and tried to put him on the ice, but the ice kept cracking every time I sat him down there,” she told the outlet.
Hangaman said a man threw a rope to pull her out of the pond.
“I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move,” she said. “By that time, I knew the kids were already gone. So at that point I just tried to fight for my life.”
The Bonham Independent School District in Texas has confirmed the deaths of three elementary school students.
“We are devastated by this unimaginable loss and our thoughts are with the families, friends and everyone who loved these children,” the school district said in a statement.
Read more about how to stay safe in the cold
Contributed by: Bella Carpentier, Greenville News. Rachel Gow, Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Greg Hilburn, Shreveport Times. Harrison Jones, Evening Sun. Riley Ober, Asheville Citizen-Times. John Webb, Evansville Courier Press, and Janine Santucci, USA TODAY
Dinah Boyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, writes about violent weather, climate change and other news. Contact dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or dinahvp.77 on X or Signal.
(This article has been updated to add new information)
