Buffalo death toll rises as freezing cold freezes eastern US

Dec 25 (Reuters) – A deadly blizzard hit Buffalo, New York, on Christmas Day, trapping people in their cars, causing power outages and increasing the death toll from a severe winter storm system that swept through United States.

Twenty-eight people have died so far in weather-related incidents across the country, according to an NBC News tally. CNN reported a total of 26 deaths.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the death toll from the storm rose from three to seven overnight in the Buffalo area in far western New York, where snow on Sunday brought the total accumulation to almost 1.2 meters.

Some of the four deaths reported Sunday morning were found in cars and others in snow banks, Poloncarz said, adding the death toll could rise further.

“This is not the Christmas any of us hoped for or expected, but try to have as merry a Christmas as possible today,” Poloncarz tweeted Sunday. My deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones.

Christina Klaffka, a 39-year-old North Buffalo resident, saw shingles flying off her neighbor’s house and listened to her windows rattle from “hurricane-like winds.” She lost power along with her entire neighborhood Saturday night and was still without power Sunday morning.

“My TV kept flickering while I was trying to watch the Buffalo Bills vs. Chicago Bears game. I blacked out shortly after the 3rd quarter,” she said.

Cars were trapped under 5ft snowdrifts in his neighborhood, Klaffka said, with more snow still forecast for Sunday night.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters on Sunday that she had been in touch with the White House and that the Biden administration would support the state’s request for a federal disaster declaration.

“This will go down in history as Buffalo’s most devastating storm. This one’s for the ages and we’re still in the middle,” Hochul said.

The blizzard is the result of a powerful winter weather system that has brought freezing temperatures from the northern Great Plains to the US-Mexico border since the middle of last week. The storm was moving east on Sunday, after knocking out power to millions late last week and causing flight cancellations over the busy holiday period.

[1/6] Hoak’s restaurant is covered in ice from spray from Lake Erie waves during a winter storm that hit the Buffalo area of ​​Hamburg, New York, U.S., December 24, 2022. Kevin Hoak/via REUTERS

More than 150,000 American homes and businesses were without power on Sunday, a sharp drop from the 1.8 million who were powerless at the start of Saturday, according to PowerOutage.us. In Buffalo, 16% of residents had no power Sunday, officials said.

Two days of whiteout conditions in western New York made rescue efforts near impossible at times, officials said. A National Guard team sent from Niagara Falls to help Buffalo got stuck Friday trying to reach equipment at the Buffalo Armory.

“We had to dig them up…so they could get to the Buffalo Armory,” Hochul told reporters on Sunday.

More than 1,600 flights in the United States were canceled as of midday Sunday, according to flight tracker FlightAware, as weather further hampered holiday travel.

Christmas morning temperatures were still well below average across the central and eastern United States, and below zero even as far south as the Gulf Coast, the National Weather Service meteorologist said ( NWS) Rich Otto.

DEADLY CAR TRIP

In Erie County, hundreds of motorists became stranded in their vehicles over the weekend as the National Guard was called in to assist with rescues, Poloncarz said.

A countywide driving ban remained in effect Sunday.

Buffalo airport had recorded nearly four feet of snow Sunday morning, the National Weather Service said. Whiteout conditions persisted south of Buffalo through noon Sunday, with snowfall 2 to 3 inches per hour.

“Another general two-footer before Monday morning in the Buffalo area is expected,” Otto said. “I guess you can tell in some ways the worst is over, but there’s still some pretty heavy snowfall in the Buffalo area today.”

Kentucky officials confirmed there were at least three storm-related deaths in that state, while at least four people died and several injured in auto-related crashes in Ohio, where a 50-vehicle pileup closed the Ohio Turnpike in both directions during a blizzard near Toledo on Friday.

Reporting by Gabriella Borter, Lucia Mutikani, Rick Cowan and Ahmed Aboulenein, editing by Ross Colvin, Diane Craft and Nick Zieminski

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ahmed Aboulenein

Thomson Reuters

Washington-based correspondent covering US health and pharmaceutical policy, with a focus on the Department of Health and Human Services and the agencies it oversees, such as the Food and Drug Administration, previously based in Iraq and Egypt.