The blizzard that paralyzed western New York over the Christmas weekend has killed more than two dozen people, local officials said Monday, as crews scrambled to shovel a snowy area around Buffalo from the worst winter storm in decades. were struggling.
More than 4 feet (1.2 meters) of snow has continued to fall on Buffalo since the blizzard took shape on Friday, as New York’s second-largest city stood as ground zero for a storm the governor described as “epic, a said at the bar. -A-Lifetime” weather disaster.
The number of confirmed tornado-related deaths in Buffalo and the rest of Erie County rose from 13 on Monday to 27 on Monday. County Executive Mark Poloncarz said the deaths included cases of people found on the edge of the snow and in cars or who died of cardiovascular events while snowing or blowing snow.
More deaths have been reported, Polonkarz said, but it remained for the county medical examiner to determine whether they were directly attributable to the weather.
At least 60 lives have been lost in weather-related events across the country, according to an NBC News tally, from an Arctic deep freeze and massive storm front that covered most of the United States for days, as far south as the Mexican border. is spread.
The major storm system has wreaked havoc with travel across the country over the holiday weekend, leaving travelers stranded as thousands of flights were cancelled.
The Greater Buffalo area, located along the shores of Lake Erie near the Canadian border, was most affected.
About 50 inches (1.27 m) of snow had been measured at the Buffalo airport as of Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
Although the blinding winds that created white-out conditions for more than two days had subsided by Monday, snow continued to fall south of Buffalo and north of Syracuse with additional accumulations of up to a foot (30 cm) by Tuesday.
rescue efforts underway
Roadways were littered with cars, buses, ambulances, tow trucks and even plows buried under heavy drifts, complicating efforts to clear snow-covered roads and reach stranded residents in need of medical care Have become. Officials deployed high-lift tractors as hospital transport.
Hundreds of motorists had to be rescued from their vehicles over the weekend, despite a countywide ban on personal road travel that went into effect Monday