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The death toll from the polar vortex causing freezing temperatures in the US has risen to 21.

Tens of millions of Americans braved Arctic-like temperatures as low as -48C on Thursday that has paralysed the US Midwest.

Officials across multiple states linked numerous deaths to the frigid air.

The death toll rose from a previous 12 after at least nine more people in Chicago were reported to have died from cold-related injuries, according to Dr Stathis Poulakidas at the city's John H Stroger Jr Hospital.

A University of Iowa student was found dead on campus of possible exposure early on Wednesday.

The wind chill at the time police found Gerald Belz, 18, was -46C, according to the National Weather Service.

Homeless and displaced people were particularly at risk, with Chicago and other cities setting up warming shelters.

But many toughed it out in encampments or vacant buildings.

A 60-year-old woman found dead in an abandoned house in Lorain, Ohio, was believed to have died of hypothermia, Lorain County Coroner Stephen Evans said.

"There's just no way if you're not near a heat source that you can survive for very long out in weather like this," Evans told the Chronicle-Telegram newspaper.

© UPI / Barcroft Images
People take pictures as steam rises from the Lake Michigan

    

It has been more than 20 years since a similar Arctic blast covered a swath of the Midwest and Northeast, according to the weather service.

More than 30 record lows were shattered across the Midwest.

Cotton, Minnesota, had the lowest national temperature recorded early on Thursday at -48 C before the weather warmed up, the weather service reported.

US homes and businesses used record amounts of natural gas for heating on Wednesday, according to preliminary results from financial data provider Refinitiv.

In Detroit, General Motors Co suspended operations at 11 Michigan plants after a utility made an emergency appeal to conserve natural gas. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV also canceled a shift on Thursday at two of its plants.

Relatively balmier weather is on the horizon, however.

By the weekend, Chicago was expected to bask in snow-melting highs in the mid-40s to low 50s Fahrenheit, along with other parts of the Midwest, the weather service said.