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A relentless winter storm brought Christmas Day danger and suffering to millions of Americans on Sunday as heavy snow and bitter cold blanketed the eastern US, with the death toll. because the weather increased to at least 26 people.
A crisis situation unfolds in Buffalo, west New Yorkwhere a blizzard left the city covered with emergency services unable to reach the hard-hit areas.
Buffalo storm New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Buffalo, where eight-foot (2.4 meters) of snow hit the front door and the power outage in freezing temperatures was “a major crisis” and “a bad thing.” worst of the worst”. taken for life-threatening conditions.
More than 200,000 people in several eastern states woke up to power outages Christmas morning and many others had already made travel plans for their vacation, although the five-day storm with blizzard conditions and severe winds showed signs of abating.
Severe weather causes cold wind temperatures at all 48 contiguous points WE states were below freezing over the weekend, tourists were stranded on holiday with thousands of flights canceled and residents trapped in homes covered in ice and snow.
26 weather-related deaths have been confirmed across 8 states, with some US media reporting a total of 30 hurricane-related deaths, including 4 in Colorado. likely to die from exposure and at least seven in western New York.
While large areas of the country have begun to emerge from the major storm and temperatures in some locations are returning to seasonal normal, Buffalo is still in the grip of “a major disaster,” a senior official said Sunday.
“We’ve confirmed seven deaths at this point from the storm in Erie County. There could be more,” County Executive Mark Poloncarz told reporters.
He described the extreme conditions, hour-long power outages and bodies discovered in vehicles and under snowbanks – and emergency workers traveling “from vehicle to vehicle” to find them. Find more bodies or trapped drivers.
The city’s international airport remains closed until Tuesday.
Governor Hochul deployed about 200 National Guard members to help with rescues in and around Buffalo.
“It’s extreme, dangerous and deadly,” she told CNN, noting that even National Guard units were trapped and in need of rescue.
‘Conditions are terrible’
The National Weather Service warned that blizzard conditions in the Great Lakes region west of New York caused by lake-effect snow continued Sunday, with “additional snow accumulation of 2 to 3 feet through evening.” now.”
A couple in Buffalo, across the border with Canada, told AFP on Saturday that with roads completely impassable, they wouldn’t be able to drive 10 minutes to see family for Christmas.
Rebecca Bortolin, 40, said: “It was difficult because the conditions were so bad… many fire departments didn’t even send trucks to call the fire department.”
A broader travel nightmare is already in full effect on millions of people.
According to tracking website Flightaware.com, the storm, one of the most intense in decades, forced more than 1,700 flights in the US to be canceled on Sunday, with about 3,500 canceled on Sunday. Saturday and nearly 6,000 trips on Friday.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted Saturday that “the most severe disruptions are over as airline and airport operations gradually recover.”
But travelers are still stuck or delayed at airports including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York.
Frozen roads and power outages also resulted in the temporary closure of some of the nation’s busiest transit routes, including the transnational Interstate 70.
Drivers have been warned not to take to the streets – even as the country reaches its typically busiest time of year for commuting.
Severe weather has severely impacted the power grid, with many power providers urging millions to reduce usage to mitigate rotating blackouts in places like North Carolina and Tennessee.
At one point on Saturday, nearly 1.7 million customers were without power in the flesh-and-blood cold, tracking poweroutage.us.
That number fell dramatically on Sunday, though about 180,000 customers in the eastern states are still short of electricity.
In Canada, hundreds of thousands of people lost power in Ontario and Quebec, flights were canceled in major cities and passenger train service between Toronto and Ottawa was suspended.
(AFP)
