EU.- For four days, the strong winter storm Elliot, described as “the storm of the century” by the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, has continued to attack the United States, and has already caused at least 28 deaths in Buffalo, the most affected in New York state, reports CBS News. Meanwhile, according to NBC News, the death toll in the country rose to 65 this Tuesday.
The storm has already caused power outages in several US cities, the cancellation of nearly 20,000 flights and has caused dozens of casualties in nine states. In the hardest-hit city, Buffalo, emergency crews found frozen bodies in cars and under drifts of snow, and searched “car to car” for survivors.
“Buffalo has been ground zero for this storm,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said Tuesday. The death toll in the city nearly reached 30, nearly equaling the death toll from a famous 1977 blizzard, making the recent storm the biggest in 45 years.
Erie County manager Mark Poloncarz called the storm “the worst I’ve probably ever seen” and stressed that “you can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel,” but “this is not the end yet”, The New York Times quotes him as saying.
According to data from the US National Weather Service, reported by the Associated Press, up to 23 centimeters more snow could fall in some areas of western New York throughout this Tuesday.
The weather is expected to improve from Wednesday. However, Erie County Emergency Services Commissioner Dan Neaverth Jr. said authorities are concerned about the possibility of flooding this week due to melting snow.
air traffic problems
The airports, in the different states affected by the snow, are still unable to restore operation. This Tuesday more than 2,900 flights were canceled, including around 2,500 from Southwest Airlines, reports CBS News. The people who had to catch any of the flights that were finally canceled were angry. Images of stacked suitcases at airports and queues for baggage delivery appeared on the networks.
The US Federal Department of Transportation declared on Monday that it will investigate the cancellation of the flights, highlighting its concern “about Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays, as well as the lack of adequate support for customers that experience a cancellation or delay”.
The worst situation is observed at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, where, according to data from the National Weather Service, the snow cover reached around 1.27 meters on Monday. This airport will remain closed until Wednesday morning.
Vehicles that are “mostly covered in snow”
The situation on the roads remains difficult as hundreds of cars, buses and other vehicles have been blocked by snow, making it difficult to clean the streets. The authorities have deployed large tractors to facilitate the transport of wounded to hospitals.
The Erie County executive urged motorists to respect the driving ban so as not to interfere with emergency and utility workers. Poloncarz added that the vehicles are “practically covered in snow and have to be dug up and towed,” so cleaning the streets will take a long time.
“We need people to continue to be patient, stay off the roads today, and as soon as we can, we will lift the ban on driving in the City of Buffalo,” said Mayor Brown.
They reported that this Saturday, around 1.7 million users in the US were left without power supply due to the intense cold, snow and wind. Currently, the power situation is stable in almost all states, but about 13,000 homes and businesses in Maine and New York as of Tuesday were still without power.
Scientists say the climate change crisis may have contributed to the intensity of the storm. Thus, Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, stated that the accumulation of water vapor in the atmosphere may have fueled the winter storm.
