At least 30 dead in ‘unique’ US snowstorm
A deadly snowstorm paralyzed Buffalo, New York, on Christmas Day, trapping motorists and emergency responders in their vehicles, leaving thousands of homes without power and adding to the death toll from storms that chilled much of the United States for days.
At least 30 people have died in weather-related incidents across the United States, according to a tally by NBC News, since a deep freeze swept through most of the nation, coupled with snow, ice and howling winds from a spreading storm that ripped out of the United States region Great Lakes roared out on Friday.
CNN has reported a total of 26 weather deaths.
Much of the death toll was concentrated in and around Buffalo, on the edge of Lake Erie in western New York, as cold and heavy “lake effect” snow – the result of cold air flowing over warmer lake water – continued over the holiday weekend.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the confirmed death toll from the storm rose to 13 as of Sunday, from three reported overnight in the Buffalo-area. Recent victims included some found in cars and some in snow banks, Poloncarz said, adding that the death toll was likely to continue to rise.
“This is not the Christmas we all hoped for or expected,” Poloncarz said on Twitter on Sunday. “My deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called it an “epic, once-in-a-lifetime” weather disaster, considered the most violent winter storm to hit the Buffalo metro area since a crippling 1977 blizzard that killed nearly 30 people.
“We have now surpassed the scale of this storm, in its intensity, its longevity and the ferocity of its winds,” Hochul said at an evening news conference, adding that the current storm will likely go down in history as “the blizzard of”. 22.”
The latest blizzard came nearly six weeks after a record-breaking but short-lived sea-effect storm battered western New York.
Despite a road driving ban imposed since Friday, hundreds of Erie County motorists were stranded in their vehicles over the weekend and National Guard troops were called to help with rescue operations hampered by white-out conditions and driving snow, Poloncarz said.
Many snow plows and other equipment sent Saturday and Sunday got stuck in the snow, “and we had to send rescue missions to save the rescuers,” he told reporters.
The Buffalo Police Department released an online request to the public for assistance 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 remarkable even for a region used to harsh winter weather.
Christina Klaffka, 39, a North Buffalo resident, watched the clapboards blow away from her neighbor’s home and heard her windows rattling from “hurricane force winds.” She had lost power along with her entire neighborhood on Saturday night and was still without power as of Sunday morning.
“My TV has flicked while trying to watch the Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears game. I lost power just after Q3,” she said.
John Burns, 58, a North Buffalo retiree, said he and his family were trapped in their home for 36 hours by the storm and extreme cold, which he called “mean and nasty.”
“No one was outside. Nobody walked their dogs,” he said. “There was nothing going on for two days.”
Snowfall totals are difficult to estimate, he added, because of fierce winds that reduced accumulation between homes but piled up a five-foot drift “in front of my garage.”
Hochul told reporters Sunday that the Biden administration has agreed to support their request for a federal disaster declaration.
About 200 National Guard soldiers have been mobilized across western New York to help police and firefighters conduct health checks and take supplies to shelters, Hochul said.
The larger storm system moved east on Sunday after powering up to 1.5million customers at the peak of outages late last week and forcing thousands of commercial flight cancellations during the busy holiday travel season.
According to PowerOutage.us, more than 150,000 US homes and businesses were without power as of Sunday, a sharp decrease from the 1.8 million without power early Saturday. In Buffalo, 15,000 residents were still without power on Sunday evening, Poloncarz said.
He said a substation that was taken offline was cordoned off by an 18-foot pile of snow and utility crews found the entire facility frozen inside.
Temperatures on Christmas Day, while beginning to recover from near-zero levels widespread on Saturday, remained well below average in the central and eastern United States and below freezing even as far south as the Gulf Coast, according to the National Weather Service forecaster (NWS). said Rich Otto.
Almost 4 feet of snow were measured at Buffalo Airport on Sunday, according to the latest NWS count, with white conditions south of Buffalo continuing into the afternoon when sustained gusts of wind threw 2 to 3 inches of snow per hour.
In Kentucky, officials confirmed three storm-related deaths since Friday, while at least four people died and several were injured in auto accidents in Ohio, where a 50-vehicle pileup disabled the Ohio Turnpike during a snow storm on Friday.
Additional deaths related to extreme cold or weather-related vehicle accidents have been reported in Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas and Colorado, according to news reports.
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/north-america/at-least-30-dead-as-once-in-a-lifetime-blizzard-grips-us-42244319.html At least 30 dead in ‘unique’ US snowstorm
