A blizzard hit the city of Buffalo, in the state of New York, on Christmas Day, leaving hundreds of people trapped inside their cars, thousands without electricity, in addition to raising the death toll due to the winter storm.
So far, 28 people have died from the cold snap in the United States, according to NBC News. CNN reported 26 deaths.
Mark Poloncarz, an executive for Erie County, said the death toll had risen from three to seven in the Buffalo region, in western New York state, where the blizzard generated 1.2 meters of snow.
Some of the dead reported on Sunday (25) were found inside cars and some in snowbanks, said Polocarz, adding that the number of victims should continue to rise.
“It’s not the Christmas we were hoping for, but let’s try to have the happiest Christmas possible today,” Poloncarz said on Sunday (25) via Twitter. “My condolences to the families who have lost loved ones.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters she was in contact with the White House and that the Biden administration will support the state’s request for a federal disaster declaration.
“This blizzard will go down in history as the most devastating in Buffalo. It’s already a historic storm and we’re still in the middle of it,” Hochul said.
The strong cold wave led to very low temperatures from the Great Plains region of the North of the US to the border between Mexico and the US mainland. The snowstorm left millions of people without power and caused numerous flight cancellations in the middle of the holiday.
More than 200,000 homes and businesses were left without power on the US East Coast, in Texas and in the state of Washington on Sunday (25), well below the 1.8 million that were without power on Saturday (24). In Buffalo, 16% of residents did not have electricity on Sunday (25).
More than 1,500 US flights were canceled as of Sunday noon, according to flight monitor FlightAware.
On Christmas morning, temperatures were still well below average across the central and eastern US.
In southern Florida, iguanas were falling from trees, paralyzed by the drop in temperature, which reached 7 degrees Celsius, according to reports from residents and images posted on Twitter.
In Erie County, nearly 500 drivers were trapped in their vehicles from Friday night to Saturday morning, and the National Guard was called in to help with rescues. The county enacted a vehicle use ban.
Buffalo Airport had recorded 109 centimeters of snow as of 7 am (9 am in Brazil) on Sunday.
“We expect another 30 to 60 centimeters of snow by Monday (26) in the Buffalo area,” said meteorologist Rich Otto. “We can certainly say that the worst is over, but there is still a significant amount of snowfall that is ongoing in Buffalo.”
Kentucky officials have confirmed at least three deaths linked to the blizzard in the state. In Ohio, at least four people died and several were injured in traffic accidents – a pileup of 50 vehicles blocked a road in the state during a storm on Friday (23).
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