It probably isn't that much worse in detroit, but it seems that once its even remotely cold outside in the states everyone flips out. Like damn, it gets cold here too and no one says crap.
It's just that there are a lot of stupid people. A lot of drunk people, too, who never have spent a winter in the North.
Also, if any personal damage occurs, anything related to that event can and will be sued by a lot of people, because that's how we roll. So we don't go to school because they're afraid of unending lawsuits. (School's cancelled tomorrrow, too, because of another less than -30 day, hooray!)
The thing with everyone flipping out when its cold where it usually isn't (southern parts of the US) is snow and ice. Nobody knows how to drive on it if they haven't before, and most people haven't before. Snow also builds up because some areas aren't equipped with snowplows. Nobody knows what to do. Nobody wants to do anything because they're afraid. In some places cold is rare and doesn't happen every year, so it's an unknown enemy. Minnesota, being US's miniature Canada, is pretty used to the weather, though. Except we still have lawsuits and governmental safety codes to get us out of a few days of school.