Major winter storm in US threatens millions with snow, ice and brutal cold

State of emergencies issues in several states and cities as eastern two-thirds of country to experience dangerous cold

A major, disruptive winter storm was sweeping across the central US on Sunday, forecasters said, bringing with it a dreaded combination of snow, ice and plunging temperatures.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued winter storm warnings from Kansas and Missouri – where blizzard conditions are expected – to New Jersey.

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I was snowed in at Barnsley library and a policeman came to fetch me. I told him I was already home | Joanne Harris

When I discovered books, I realised that home could be Narnia or Gormenghast – and that one small corner of the library was for ever mine

Home is one of those migrant words that changes meaning over the course of a life. As a child of two cultures, I was aware from an early age that I had two homes: one in England and one in France, each with its separate family, traditions, food and language. That meant I was never completely at home in any single place, but it also meant that my comfort zone could occupy multiple territories. Home was the people who loved me, and how they left their mark on the world: through gardening, cooking and music – but most of all, through stories.

Stories are how we stay in touch with home, my mother used to tell me. Stories of our family in France; of people and places I only knew through her stories. People and places could be lost, but through stories could always be found again.

Joanne Harris is the author of Chocolat and Broken Light

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