The “blizzard of the century” spares no one in the United States. The cold, which has hit the country since December 23, is also affecting the local wildlife. In the southern part of the country, temperatures have dropped to around 0°C.

Stung by this Florida cold, the iguanas fall from the trees and are frozen to the ground. Unable to move, these large lizards appear to be dead. They are actually only paralyzed by these low temperatures. Their body no longer has enough energy to move. Most of them will be able to move again when the temperatures rise.

Houston bats affected by cold

Iguanas are not the only animals that suffer from the harsh climate. In Texas, in Houston, bats freeze and end up on the road. Some of them are collected by volunteers who try to warm them up. A first cold snap in 2021 destabilized the bat colony, while Hurricane Harvey in 2017 decimated the population.

On the human side, the current storm has killed at least 49 people, including 27 in a single county in New York state. More than 300,000 US and Canadian homes were without power.