By Gabriella Borter and Ahmed Aboulenein
Dec 25 – A deadly blizzard paralyzed Buffalo, New York, on Christmas Day, trapping motorists in their cars, knocking out power to thousands of homes and raising the death toll from a winter storm system that has frozen much of United States for days.
According to a count of NBC News, at least 30 people have died in weather-related incidents across the United States since a deep freeze blanketed most of the country, along with snow, ice and hurricane-force winds from a storm in the Greater Lagos late last week.
CNN reported a total of 26 deaths.
Much of the deaths have been concentrated in and around Buffalo, on the shores of Lake Erie, in western New York, where icy cold and heavy “lake effect” snowfall result of the movement of frigid air over the warmer waters of the lake they persisted over the holiday weekend.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the confirmed death toll from the storm rose to 12 Sunday, up from three overnight in the Buffalo region. Among the latest victims were some found in cars and others in snowbanks, Poloncarz said, adding that the death toll could rise further.
Despite a driving ban imposed since Friday, hundreds of Erie County motorists were trapped in their vehicles over the weekend, and National Guard troops were called in to assist with rescues complicated by road conditions. white veil and blown snow, said Poloncarz.
“This is not the Christmas any of us expected,” Poloncarz said on Twitter on Sunday. “My condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones.”
The Buffalo Police Department posted a petition online for public help with search and recovery efforts, asking those who “have a snowmobile and are willing to help” to call a hotline for instructions.
The severity of the storm was notable even in a region accustomed to harsh winter conditions.
Christina Klaffka, 39, of North Buffalo, saw the shingles fly off her neighbor’s house and heard her windows rattle from “hurricane winds.” She lost power along with her entire neighborhood Saturday night, and was still without power Sunday morning.
“My TV was flickering while I was trying to watch the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Chicago Bears. I lost power shortly after the third quarter,” he explained.
John Burns, a 58-year-old retiree in North Buffalo, said he and his family were trapped in their home for 36 hours by the storm and extreme cold that he called “bad and disgusting.”
“No one was coming out. No one took their dogs for a walk,” she said. “Nothing happened for two days.”
The snowfall totals were difficult to gauge, he added, because the fierce winds reduced the accumulation between the houses, but they piled up about 1.5 meters “in front of my garage.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters Sunday that President Joe Biden’s administration had agreed to support her request for a federal disaster declaration.
About 200 National Guard troops were deployed in western New York, providing aid to police and fire crews, conducting wellness checks and bringing supplies to shelters, Hochul said.
The storm was moving east on Sunday, having knocked out power to 1.5 million customers at the height of the outages, later this week, and forcing the cancellation of thousands of commercial flights during the busy holiday period.
BLACKOUTSCROSS-BORDER
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 150,000 US homes and businesses were without power on Sunday, down from 1.8 million without power as of early Saturday. In Buffalo, 16% of residents lost power on Sunday, according to authorities.
In Canada, at least 140,000 customers also lost power, the majority in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, hard hit by the same weather system that blanketed western New York in snow.
More than 1,700 flights in the United States had been canceled as of noon Sunday, according to FlightAware.
The Buffalo airport had recorded almost 4 feet of snow as of Sunday, according to the Weather Service. Snow was still falling south of Buffalo on Sunday afternoon at a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour.
In Kentucky, authorities confirmed three storm-related deaths since Friday, while at least four people were killed and several injured in car crashes in Ohio, where a 50-vehicle pileup forced the closure of the Ohio Turnpike in both directions. during a blizzard on Friday.
Other deaths related to extreme cold or weather-induced vehicle accidents have been reported in Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas and Colorado, according to news reports.
A bus accident on Christmas Eve that police say was likely due to icy road conditions near Loon Lake in Canadian British Columbia has left four dead and dozens hospitalized, authorities confirmed Sunday.