The US is a really big place. Some of us go for a jog in 35°c, and some of us wear shorts and a t-shirt in 5°c.
Where I live, I only own a single item of 'warm clothing' because it's unnecessary for 360+ days of the year. We also have no heating in the home other than a small space heater. These temperatures will be rather uncomfortable, and will likely kill half our garden and potentially cause damage property.
Not fun.
That said, if you don’t live in a sub-arctic climate and don’t own the kind of outerwear rated for -15° F and below, suffering an actual injury is a very real possibility.
It's colder than it typically is almost everywhere, so for people who live in the north it's a big deal. For people who live in the south and don't plan for freezing temps... also a big-ish deal.
Now, Wednesday, we'll be < -20F, which is cold, but nothing we haven't dealt with before and nothing entirely out of the normal. If anything, winter has been abnormally warmer for us.
I grew up in Mitchell, but left about 30 years ago. As a youth, I had a paper route and vividly remember walking backwards on some cold days to keep the wind out of my face.
Good luck with this upcoming cold snap!
About the south: I used to stay for a while in Austin, TX. During winter we had temperatures below freezing (just ice, no snow). The locals told us that this happens at least every other year. For this some were suprisingly unprepared though, in particular with regard to driving skills, water pipes and building insulation.
Last year it even snowed here. Twice. Nothing major, just a thin layer of snow for a day or two, but the schools shut down. When I lived in SD a light rain would lead to everyone driving 20mph below the speed limit on the freeway.
To some extent that "yes, much of the country is cold" in January, yeah, the headline might be slightly out of sync - maybe it's only 60% normally? I think the bigger issue is just how cold it is in so many places where it's not normally this cold.
At least, temperatures that allow for snow to appear are not normal in the south or on the west coast. Spot temperatures below freezing are.
I'd believe it's normal for 75% of the land area.
That's more of a stereotype than a fact.
It gets very cold in winter in the vast majority of nation, including the south and west. It snows in Las Vegas every year. Las Vegas even has a ski resort.† But people rely on an old cartoon-inspired vision of what a "desert" is, rather than the fact that "desert" means a place with little water, not necessarily high temperatures year-round.
Their vision of "American desert" is usually Monument Valley.†† But guess what, that's under snow right now, too. And it's not unusual.
† https://www.leecanyonlv.com †† https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Valley
Vegas and Colorado are neither coastal nor southern. My vision of "American desert" is probably near Albuquerque where I lived for several years. It snowed every year. But you'll note that New Mexico isn't part of the south either, despite its location on the border.
It's on the border between Arizona and Utah.