US Winter Storm: Hundreds of people died in the “blizzard of the century” over the Christmas holiday, and it was still bad in New York state and for air travellers on Tuesday. There were reports of families being delayed for days. After three more deaths in Erie County, which is the centre of the crisis in western New York, the death toll from the winter storm reached 50.
After five days of chest-deep snow and power outages, Buffalo’s mayor, Byron Brown, said on Twitter that the police department “expects that number to grow.” New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, who was born in Buffalo, called the area after the hurricane “a battle zone.”
People were stuck inside for days because of the “blizzard of the century.” | AFP. Hundreds of people died in the “blizzard of the century” over the Christmas holiday, and it was still bad in New York state and for air travellers on Tuesday. There were reports of families being delayed for days.
After three more deaths in Erie County, which is the centre of the crisis in western New York, the death toll from the winter storm reached 50. After five days of chest-deep snow and power outages, Buffalo’s mayor, Byron Brown, said on Twitter that the police department “expects that number to grow.”
New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, who was born in Buffalo, called the area after the hurricane “a battle zone.” Hochul told reporters on Monday that the snowstorm was the worst of the century. As the temperature dropped, commuters and people trying to get out of their cold homes were stuck on the roads.
Some places were inaccessible to ambulances for many hours, and snowploughs couldn’t work because of how strong the storm was, so rescuers had to be saved. Anndel Taylor, who lived in Buffalo, New York, and was 22 years old, died in her car after getting stuck on her way home from work.
Taylor sent her sister an email with a video of her car in the snow. Her family in North Carolina told WSOC-TV that rescue workers were stuck trying to get to her and that 18 hours later, she was found dead, probably from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Three more people died in Erie County in western New York, bringing the total number of deaths from the winter storm to over 50. The mayor of Buffalo, Byron Brown, said on Twitter that the police expect that number to go up.
The New York Times said that a man from Buffalo was locked in his car for 11 hours with his four young children before they were found. Zila Santiago, who is 30 years old, kept his car running to keep warm and gave his kids juice from the trunk.
Before morning, they were saved by a snowplough. Some people thought that a travel ban late Friday morning was to blame for the chaos in a city that is used to snow. Mark Eguliar, who lives in Buffalo, was held up at work for almost 40 hours.
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“Too many people were driving and didn’t listen to the ban, so cars were jamming up all the roads, making it much harder to get home,” he said. Flightaware.com says that violent snow squalls, howling winds, and temperatures below zero caused the cancellation of about 20,000 U.S. flights, including 3,200 on Tuesday.
Southwest Airlines had to cancel more than 60 percent of its flights on Tuesday because of operational problems. This got them in trouble with the U.S. government. Although the U.S. There were thousands of flights that had to be cancelled because of snow squalls, howling winds, and temperatures below zero.
Monday, President Joe Biden called a state of emergency in New York, which freed up money for recovery. Buffalo’s international airport and the city’s driving ban stayed closed until Wednesday morning. “You can walk to see your neighbours, open shops, and so on.
Don’t drive, “tweeted Mark Poloncarz, who is the county executive. Bill Sherlock, who has lived in Buffalo for a long time, told AFP that after four feet of snow, he was lucky to have lights and food. The 38-year-old lawyer said that since Friday, electricity had been out at several homes in his area.
“We’re not going anywhere until we have to,” Sherlock said. Mayor Brown told CNN that eight people had been arrested after multiple thefts over the Christmas holiday.
The National Weather Service said that the high temperature over the weekend would be 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), but officials warned that melting snow could cause small floods. Over the weekend, it was below freezing in every state on the U.S. mainland.
This included Texas, which is close to the border with Mexico and where some migrants have been trying to find shelter. Poweroutage.us said that on Saturday, 1.7 million people were without power because of the cold weather. Part of the cross-country highway I-70 was closed because of ice on the roads and low visibility.
Joe Biden calls a state of emergency in New York. The driving ban stays in place until Wednesday morning, and Buffalo’s international airport is still closed. Mayor: “There was a lot of stealing over Christmas weekend.” “We won’t move until we have to,” said a long-time resident. The poor had the worst Christmas of their lives, said AFP.
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