New York State Governor Kathy Hochul told various local agencies to prepare for “potentially dangerous flooding” as the ice is expected to melt in the coming days.
The United States was slowly emerging from a historic storm on Wednesday that killed at least 59 people, but its impact continued to be felt in the Buffalo area and at airports, with hundreds of thousands of passengers having their flights canceled .
Heavy snowfalls, freezing winds, sudden drops in temperatures… Even in regions used to harsh winters, bad weather has wreaked havoc, to the point that rescue teams have sometimes found themselves stranded.
National Guard door to door
At Christmas, the cold was felt to varying degrees in much of the country, including Texas and Florida, unaccustomed to such weather conditions. The latter improved on Wednesday, with rising temperatures.
But “as temperatures warm, we expect snowmelt and possible flooding from rapid melting,” warned Mark Poloncarz, an Erie County official.
Water pumps, generators and sandbags were ready for distribution. On Wednesday, the National Guard was going door to door in areas where electricity had not yet been restored, to make sure residents were safe, Mark Poloncarz said.
The driving ban that remains in effect in Buffalo is expected to be lifted Thursday morning with most roads clear, city mayor Byron Brown said on CNN on Wednesday.
Serial flight cancellations
In recent days, some have criticized the county’s response to the announced storm, arguing that this ban should have been enacted sooner.
“I don’t know if it would have changed anything, but it was my decision and I bear full responsibility,” reacted Mark Poloncarz.
At airports, including Denver, Chicago and Baltimore, disruptions continued. In question: the cancellations of flights in series around the Christmas weekend.
But while the pace of most airlines had returned to normal, one, Southwest Airlines, continued to deal with a service debacle. Of the approximately 2,800 flights canceled Wednesday, more than 2,500 were operated by Southwest, according to the FlightAware website.
