The ferocious winter storm that has battered the United States for several days has killed at least 57 people, including 25 in a single county in New York state, and is far from over, authorities warned Monday, calling it the “storm of the century.” ”.
“It’s too early to say it’s over,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said, adding that another 12 inches of snow was still expected to fall.
“It’s clearly the blizzard of the century,” he added during a news conference in Buffalo, his hometown.
Although the intensity of the storm is no longer what it was in recent days, “it’s still dangerous to be outside,” Hochul said.
Accustomed to freezing cold and heavy snowfall, western New York state bordering Canada is buried under a blanket of snow, enduring polar temperatures since last week.
The death toll in Erie County as of Sunday night was 13, but 12 more people have since been confirmed dead by local services, “bringing the total death toll from the blizzard to 25,” Mark reported. Poloncarz, responsible for this county.
Some people have been found dead in their cars, and others have died of cardiac arrest trying to clear snow while temperatures are still low, he told a news conference.
He added that more victims are expected to be found.
The number of deaths confirmed by authorities in nine states across the country is now at least 57. In Ohio, storm-related traffic accidents killed nine people, the state Highway Patrol confirmed.
“My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones this holiday weekend,” US President Joe Biden tweeted Monday, indicating he had called the governor and pledging to provide the necessary federal resources.
“Piercing”
The streets of Buffalo, in Erie County and New York state’s second city, were still largely blocked Monday due to an impressive amount of snow.
“Please, unless you’re emergency responders, don’t drive,” Poloncarz urged, noting that the death toll from the Erie storm would likely exceed the death toll from the 1977 Buffalo storm, when nearly 30 people died.
The travel ban was still in effect Monday morning in the west county, but some residents defied it, he said.
National Guardsmen and other first responders have already rescued hundreds of people from snow-covered cars and homes without power, but authorities say people remain trapped.
“It’s heartbreaking to get calls from families with children saying they’re frozen,” Erie County Sheriff John Garcia told CNN.
Despite the dangerous conditions, Buffalo police rescued “hundreds” of people, the city’s mayor, Byron Brown, said.
Power has been restored to some 13,000 homes in the last 24 hours, but more than 12,000 are still without service, Poloncarz said, clarifying that some will not be able to be connected to the grid before Tuesday.
On Saturday, power outages across the country affected almost 1.7 million homes, according to the specialized site poweroutage.us.
3,500 flights canceled on Monday
Since Wednesday night, the United States has been battered by this rare intensity storm, whose polar winds have brought heavy snowfall, especially in the Great Lakes region.
Freezing temperatures were recorded in 48 US states over the weekend, including Texas communities along the border with Mexico, where some recently arrived migrants were having difficulty finding shelter.
Tens of millions of Americans had their Christmas upended by massive power outages, impassable roads and thousands of canceled flights, causing chaos at airports.
As of Monday, about 3,500 flights remained canceled in the United States, according to the tracking site Flightaware.com.
The weather is expected to gradually improve as the week progresses.
The extreme weather “will continue to cause hazardous travel conditions locally for the next two days,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said in its latest bulletin.
“Most of the eastern United States will remain in freezing conditions through Monday, before a more moderate trend sets in starting Tuesday,” it added.
