US authorities have confirmed a total of at least 26 deaths related to these extreme weather conditions across nine states.
VSe is not the Christmas we wanted “: a winter storm, carrying icy winds and sweeping the center and the east of the United States for days, has killed more than twenty people and left dozens thousands of Americans without power on Christmas Day.
The county of Erie, located in the State of New York and which includes the city of Buffalo, was particularly affected, the piles of accumulated snow reaching up to three meters high in places. At least seven people died there due to the storm, county official Mark Poloncarz said Sunday at a press conference. Some were found in cars and others on the street in the middle of the snow.
Since Wednesday evening, the United States has been hit by this storm of rare intensity, whose polar winds have caused heavy snowfall, especially in the Great Lakes region.
US authorities have confirmed a total of at least 26 deaths related to these extreme weather conditions across nine states. Some of these deaths occurred on the roads, which have become very dangerous due to icy conditions and poor visibility. “This is not the Christmas we wanted,” said Mr. Poloncarz, who fears that other deaths will soon be counted in Erie County. “There are people stuck in their cars for more than two days and others in homes with freezing temperatures,” he warned.
A travel ban was imposed in this region on Friday but hundreds of people still found themselves stranded in their vehicles. The relief went from car to car on Sunday to see “if they found any bodies”, described Mark Poloncarz on CNN.
“Major Crisis”
“This is a major crisis,” acknowledged New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Buffalo, who deployed the National Guard. “I’ve had every major winter storm in the last 60 years,” she said. “This is the worst. »
Electricity will not be fully restored in Buffalo until Monday, Poloncarz warned, calling on residents not to leave their homes as the roads remain impassable.
Between 30 and 60 cm of snow were still expected to fall overnight, according to the latest bulletin from the US Weather Service (NWS). “The winds are so strong” that the snow forms like “sand dunes”, it’s “crazy”, described Saturday to AFP Ali Lawson, 34, who has lived in Buffalo for eight years.
