The severe winter storm that battered the United States for several days has caused the deaths of at least 49 people in the country, including 27 in a single county in upstate New York, and this “snowstorm of the century” is far from over, it said authorities warned on Monday. “It’s way too early to say it’s over,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned, adding that up to 12 inches of snow could still fall. “This is definitely the blizzard of the century,” she added during a news conference in her native city of Buffalo.
Even if the intensity of the storm is no longer that of the past few days, it is “still dangerous to be outside,” she warned. Western New York, used to the cold and storms, was buried under meters of snow over the Christmas weekend and has been suffering from polar temperatures for the past week.
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The death toll in Erie County, which includes Buffalo, was 13 as of Sunday night, but local services have since confirmed the deaths of 14 more people, bringing the total death toll from the blizzard to 27, Monday said Mark Poloncarz, responsible for this county.
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Some people were found dead in their cars or outside, others died of cardiac arrest trying to clear snow while temperatures were still freezing, he said. He said he expects more victims to be found over time. The total number of deaths confirmed by authorities in nine US states is at least 49 dead. Nine people died in traffic accidents related to this bad weather in Ohio, the Ohio State Highway Patrol confirmed to AFP.
“My heart goes out to those who have lost a loved one,” US President Joe Biden tweeted Monday, indicating that he had spoken to the governor on the phone and pledged to provide necessary federal resources. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said snowpack in some western New York cities was “up to a meter deep overnight.” Later Monday, she spoke to President Biden, who offered “the full force of the federal government” to support New York State.
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He said they join First Lady Jill Biden in praying for those who lost loved ones in the storm, according to a White House statement. According to the same source, Joe Biden has also authorized the declaration of a state of emergency in New York State.
“Heartbreaking”
Buffalo’s roads were still largely closed Monday due to the impressive amounts of snow. Footage from downtown showed cars across the street covered in snow. “Please do not drive unless you are part of the emergency services,” Mr Poloncarz pleaded. “The conditions are bad.”
A travel ban was still in effect in the west of the county on Monday, but some residents have resisted it, he said. “What we’re doing today is getting people to doctors, nurses and hospitals,” County Sheriff John Garcia told CNN Monday morning. “The roads are finally becoming passable because the wind has died down.”
At the height of the storm, rescuers were unable to reach people in need, such as people stranded in their cars or at home without electricity.
“It’s heartbreaking to receive calls from families with children saying they have frozen to death,” Garcia said. Despite the dangerous conditions, Buffalo police rescued “hundreds” of people, the city’s Mayor Byron Brown said.
Power has been restored to more than 13,000 homes over the past 24 hours, Mark Poloncarz said Monday morning, but more than 12,000 are still without power. Some might not be connected to the grid before Tuesday, he warned.
3,800 flights were canceled on Monday
The storm of rare intensity has been sweeping the United States since Wednesday night, with frigid winds driving heavy snowfall, particularly in the Great Lakes region. Tens of millions of Americans saw their Christmas weekend turned upside down by massive power outages, impassable roads and thousands of canceled flights, causing chaos at airports.
On Monday, the number of canceled flights in the United States rose to around 3,800 from a previously announced 3,500, according to monitoring site Flightaware.com. Conditions are expected to improve only gradually over the week. The weather “will continue to create hazardous local travel conditions for the next two days,” the U.S. Weather Service (NWS) said in its latest national bulletin. “Most of the eastern United States will remain in frigid conditions throughout Monday before a more moderate trend beginning Tuesday,” he added.