Deep freeze grips Midwest, Northeast

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - After an unusually warm December and a mostly snow-free January, winter returned with a vengeance Tuesday to the upper Midwest and Northeast, dumping heavy snow on parts of New York and keeping temperatures well below zero in many cities.

The bitter cold and bone-chilling winds forced dozens of schools in New York, Wisconsin and Michigan to close for a second day, including districts in Buffalo, Rochester and Milwaukee.

"I knew we'd have to pay up somewhere down the line for all that nice weather," said Chris Sachel, who owns a drive-in restaurant outside Fulton, northwest of Syracuse.

Cold air from the Arctic stretched from the northern Plains through New England, and temperatures were below zero as far south as the mountains of West Virginia. At least seven deaths had been blamed on slippery roads and the bone-chilling temperatures.

The cold wind picked up moisture from the Great Lakes, creating lake-effect squalls that have dumped 3 to 4 feet of snow this week on parts of New York state at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. Annual snowfall in the area averages more than 20 feet.

The lake-effect squalls continued Tuesday, and meteorologists expected the weather pattern to continue through early next week.

"All we can do at this point is wait it out until Mother Nature is done kicking us," said Randy Bateman, mayor of Oswego, which declared a snow emergency, banning all nonessential travel so plows could clear roads.

East of Oswego, state troopers closed a section of Interstate 81 for an hour to remove cars and trucks that went off the road when blowing snow reduced visibility to zero. Oswego County Sheriff Reuel Todd said hundreds of vehicles slid off the pavement.

"I live about four miles down the road. It took me about 50 minutes to an hour to get here," said Gus Maunder of Parish.

Temperatures began to ease Tuesday in places hit by the worst of the cold air. After Monday's low of 38 below zero, the northern Minnesota town of Hallock reported a Tuesday morning reading of 9 below, according to the National Weather Service.

But pockets of intense cold lingered, including 29 below Tuesday at International Falls, Minn., and minus 20 at Ironwood, Mich.

Meteorologists said temperatures would not rise into the 20s in Michigan until Wednesday and would stay below freezing at least through Sunday.

The cold and slippery roads had contributed to two deaths in Kentucky, two in Michigan, and one each in Maryland, Ohio and Illinois, authorities said.

Indonesian officials warn of disease risk as rain lashes Jakarta

JAKARTA (AFP) - Health officials warned of a growing risk of disease from the filthy floodwaters inundating the Indonesian capital, where hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.

Torrential rains early Tuesday raised water levels still further, bringing more misery to Jakarta and the surrounding area, where the floods have already claimed at least 44 lives.

Officials warned of the risk of leptospirosis, which causes high fever and painful joints, from the contaminated floodwaters.

Jakarta's health office deputy head Salimar Salim urged people in flooded areas to take precautions against the bacterial disease which is mainly spread by rat urine and can survive for months in water and on the ground.

"We urge (people), that when they clean up after the flood, to use rubber gloves and rubber boots," the Detikcom news portal quoted her as saying.

So far nearly 40,000 people have been treated for minor ailments, officials said.

"So far we have had a few cases of diarrhoea, cases of respiratory diseases and also skin irritations, but we have so far no report of cases involving dangerous diseases such as tetanus or leptospirosis," said Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre.

"As of today (Tuesday), we have distributed 12 tonnes of medicine for Jakarta, West Java and Banten, and deployed over 3,000 medical staff," he told AFP, adding that 200 doctors were helping in flood relief operations.

Charities and political parties have also set up makeshift clinics.

"My daughter has skin problems," Dini, 29, told a visiting doctor as her seven-month-old baby was examined.

They have taken refuge in a mosque for nearly a week and have to wait for volunteers to deliver food and drinking water.

Medical aid group International SOS also warned of the risk of disease from the polluted waters.

"Flooding can also lead to gastro-intestinal illness like cholera and typhoid, especially if people consume unsafe food and water. Floodwaters are usually polluted with elements like oil and lead, as well as disease causing organisms like the bacterium E. coli," it said in a medical alert.

More than 40,000 police, troops and volunteers were helping to evacuate and bring aid to around 340,000 people displaced by the massive floods.

Jakarta police spokesman Ketut Untung Yoga Ana told reporters the death toll had risen to 44.

Rescuers were trying to evacuate people who had so far refused to leave their flooded homes, said Eman from the East Jakarta disaster mitigation centre.

Many still refuse to leave, saying they fear for their belongings or that conditions at the shelters will be no better.

Hundreds of navy personnel were also evacuating people stranded in north Jakarta.

"We are still focusing our evacuation efforts on the Kelapa Gading area where the water level is still reaching a height of one-and-a-half metres," Lieutenant Colonel Irawan told the state Antara news agency.

Heavy downpours have raised the water levels at all of the city's main floodgates and further rain is forecast until at least Wednesday.

"Our three-day forecast shows that rains will continue to fall, but with less volume than the first five days of this month," meteorology office spokesman Ahmad Zakir said.

Between 12 and 15 centimetres of rain have fallen daily, but he said levels were now likely to drop to around eight to 10 centimetres.

ElShinta radio reported that floodwaters had returned in some areas where they had started to recede, and callers from the south and southwest of the city said water levels were rising again in their areas.

Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar has blamed the floods on excessive construction on natural drainage areas, but city governor Sutiyoso said it was a "cyclical natural phenomenon."

Old Batavia, the former colonial port under Dutch rule from where Jakarta has expanded, was built on marshland and some areas of the capital are below sea level.