BUFFALO (USA): Millions of people sheltered in the deep cold through the night and early morning to weather a freezing storm that has killed at least 18 people across the US, leaving some residents stranded indoors with drifting snow. dense and lose power. several hundred thousand households and businesses.
The storm’s range was almost unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico.
About 60% of the US population faces some winter weather advice or warning, and temperatures plummet below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to Appalachian, the National Weather Service said. know.
About 1,346 domestic and international flights were canceled early Sunday, according to tracking site FlightAware.
Weather forecasters say a bomb storm – when atmospheric pressure drops rapidly during a strong storm – has developed near the Great Lakes, causing blizzard conditions, including high winds and high winds. snow.
The storm unleashed its fury on Buffalo, with hurricane-force winds and snow causing power outages, crippling emergency response efforts – New York Governor Kathy Hochul said almost every ambulance Fires in the city were all stuck — and the airport was closed until Monday, according to officials.
The National Weather Service said total snowfall at Buffalo Niagara International Airport was 43 inches (109 cm) as of 7 a.m. Sunday.
Freezing conditions and power outages from days ago had Buffalo residents scrambling on Saturday to leave their homes to go wherever the heat was. But with city streets under a thick white blanket, that’s not an option for the likes of Jeremy Manahan, who has charged his phone in a parked car after nearly 29 hours without power.
“There is a warm shelter, but that is too far away for me. Obviously I couldn’t drive because I was stuck,” Manahan said. “And you can’t be outside for more than 10 minutes without freezing.”
Mark Poloncarz, chief executive officer for Erie County, Buffalo’s hometown, said the ambulance took more than three hours to make a trip to the hospital and the blizzard could be “the worst storm on record.” our community history”.
Two people died in upstate Cheektowaga, New York, on Friday when emergency crews were unable to reach them in time to treat their medical conditions, he said, and another died in Buffalo.
“We can’t pick everyone up and take you to a heating center. We don’t have the capacity to do that,” Poloncarz said. “A lot of neighborhoods, especially in Buffalo, are still impassable.”
Ditjak Ilunga of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was on her way to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario, for Christmas with her daughters on Friday when their SUV got stuck in Buffalo. Unable to get help, they spent hours with the engine running in the vehicle blown away by the wind and nearly buried in the snow.
By 4 a.m. Saturday, when their fuel was nearing its end, Ilunga made the desperate choice of risking the roaring storm to a nearby shelter. He carried 6-year-old Destiny on his back while 16-year-old Cindy hugged their Pomeranian dog, stepping in his footsteps as they trudged through floodwaters.
“If I were in this car, I would die here with my children,” he recalls thinking, but believing they had to try. He cried when his family walked through the door of the shelter. “That’s something I’ll never forget in my life.”
The storm knocked out power in communities from Maine to Seattle, and a major grid operator warned 65 million people across the eastern United States of potential rotating blackouts.
But heat and light are slowly recovering across the United States. According to poweroutage.us, less than 300,000 customers lost power at 8am EDT on Sunday – down from a peak of 1.7 million.
In North Carolina, less than 6,600 customers lost power – down from a peak of 485,000 or more. Utility officials said the rotating blackout would continue for the next few days.
Across six New England states, about 121,300 customers remained without power on Sunday, with Maine remaining the hardest hit. Some utilities say power may not be restored for days.
Storm-related deaths have been reported in recent days around the country: four people died in a wreckage at the Ohio Turnpike involving about 50 vehicles; four motorists were killed in separate crashes in Missouri and Kansas; an Ohio utility worker was electrocuted; a Vermont woman was hit in the head by a falling tree branch; a seemingly homeless man was found among Colorado’s sub-zero temperatures; a woman fell into the ice of the Wisconsin River.
In Mexico, migrants camping near the US border are facing unusually cold temperatures as they await a US Supreme Court ruling on pandemic-era restrictions that have left many unable to apply for asylum.
Along Interstate 71 in Kentucky, Terry Henderson and her husband, Rick, made their way through a 34-hour traffic jam in a rig equipped with a diesel heater, toilet and refrigerator after got stuck trying to drive from Alabama to their home in Ohio for Christmas.
“We should have stayed,” said Terry Henderson after they moved again on Saturday.
Erie County’s Poloncarz tweeted late Saturday that 34.6 inches (about 88 centimeters) of snow had accumulated at Buffalo Airport and drifts more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) high in some areas.
Snowstorm conditions are expected to ease early Sunday, he continued, but the snow forecast continues to have a lake effect.
Vivian Robinson of the Spirit of Truth Urban Department in Buffalo said she and her husband sheltered and cooked for 60 to 70 people, including stranded tourists and locals without electricity or heat, who spent Saturday night at church.
Many came with ice and snow covered with their clothes, crying, their skin red from the single-digit temperature. On Saturday night, they prepare to celebrate Christmas together.
“It was emotional to see the hurt they thought they were going to be insurmountable, and to see that we opened the church doors, and it gave them a sense of relief,” says Robinson. “The people here are really enjoying themselves. It will be another Christmas for everyone.”
The storm’s range was almost unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico.
About 60% of the US population faces some winter weather advice or warning, and temperatures plummet below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to Appalachian, the National Weather Service said. know.
About 1,346 domestic and international flights were canceled early Sunday, according to tracking site FlightAware.
Weather forecasters say a bomb storm – when atmospheric pressure drops rapidly during a strong storm – has developed near the Great Lakes, causing blizzard conditions, including high winds and high winds. snow.
The storm unleashed its fury on Buffalo, with hurricane-force winds and snow causing power outages, crippling emergency response efforts – New York Governor Kathy Hochul said almost every ambulance Fires in the city were all stuck — and the airport was closed until Monday, according to officials.
The National Weather Service said total snowfall at Buffalo Niagara International Airport was 43 inches (109 cm) as of 7 a.m. Sunday.
Freezing conditions and power outages from days ago had Buffalo residents scrambling on Saturday to leave their homes to go wherever the heat was. But with city streets under a thick white blanket, that’s not an option for the likes of Jeremy Manahan, who has charged his phone in a parked car after nearly 29 hours without power.
“There is a warm shelter, but that is too far away for me. Obviously I couldn’t drive because I was stuck,” Manahan said. “And you can’t be outside for more than 10 minutes without freezing.”
Mark Poloncarz, chief executive officer for Erie County, Buffalo’s hometown, said the ambulance took more than three hours to make a trip to the hospital and the blizzard could be “the worst storm on record.” our community history”.
Two people died in upstate Cheektowaga, New York, on Friday when emergency crews were unable to reach them in time to treat their medical conditions, he said, and another died in Buffalo.
“We can’t pick everyone up and take you to a heating center. We don’t have the capacity to do that,” Poloncarz said. “A lot of neighborhoods, especially in Buffalo, are still impassable.”
Ditjak Ilunga of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was on her way to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario, for Christmas with her daughters on Friday when their SUV got stuck in Buffalo. Unable to get help, they spent hours with the engine running in the vehicle blown away by the wind and nearly buried in the snow.
By 4 a.m. Saturday, when their fuel was nearing its end, Ilunga made the desperate choice of risking the roaring storm to a nearby shelter. He carried 6-year-old Destiny on his back while 16-year-old Cindy hugged their Pomeranian dog, stepping in his footsteps as they trudged through floodwaters.
“If I were in this car, I would die here with my children,” he recalls thinking, but believing they had to try. He cried when his family walked through the door of the shelter. “That’s something I’ll never forget in my life.”
The storm knocked out power in communities from Maine to Seattle, and a major grid operator warned 65 million people across the eastern United States of potential rotating blackouts.
But heat and light are slowly recovering across the United States. According to poweroutage.us, less than 300,000 customers lost power at 8am EDT on Sunday – down from a peak of 1.7 million.
In North Carolina, less than 6,600 customers lost power – down from a peak of 485,000 or more. Utility officials said the rotating blackout would continue for the next few days.
Across six New England states, about 121,300 customers remained without power on Sunday, with Maine remaining the hardest hit. Some utilities say power may not be restored for days.
Storm-related deaths have been reported in recent days around the country: four people died in a wreckage at the Ohio Turnpike involving about 50 vehicles; four motorists were killed in separate crashes in Missouri and Kansas; an Ohio utility worker was electrocuted; a Vermont woman was hit in the head by a falling tree branch; a seemingly homeless man was found among Colorado’s sub-zero temperatures; a woman fell into the ice of the Wisconsin River.
In Mexico, migrants camping near the US border are facing unusually cold temperatures as they await a US Supreme Court ruling on pandemic-era restrictions that have left many unable to apply for asylum.
Along Interstate 71 in Kentucky, Terry Henderson and her husband, Rick, made their way through a 34-hour traffic jam in a rig equipped with a diesel heater, toilet and refrigerator after got stuck trying to drive from Alabama to their home in Ohio for Christmas.
“We should have stayed,” said Terry Henderson after they moved again on Saturday.
Erie County’s Poloncarz tweeted late Saturday that 34.6 inches (about 88 centimeters) of snow had accumulated at Buffalo Airport and drifts more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) high in some areas.
Snowstorm conditions are expected to ease early Sunday, he continued, but the snow forecast continues to have a lake effect.
Vivian Robinson of the Spirit of Truth Urban Department in Buffalo said she and her husband sheltered and cooked for 60 to 70 people, including stranded tourists and locals without electricity or heat, who spent Saturday night at church.
Many came with ice and snow covered with their clothes, crying, their skin red from the single-digit temperature. On Saturday night, they prepare to celebrate Christmas together.
“It was emotional to see the hurt they thought they were going to be insurmountable, and to see that we opened the church doors, and it gave them a sense of relief,” says Robinson. “The people here are really enjoying themselves. It will be another Christmas for everyone.”
