The heavy snowfall has become part of a massive winter storm that also brings gusty winds and frigid temperatures across much of the United States.
A polar storm swept across most of the United States, Saturday, killing at least 16 people due to traffic accidents caused by bad weather, cutting power to more than 800,000 people, and stranding thousands with canceled flights.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport is closed through Monday morning, and some roads are closed through Christmas Day, Hocol said at a news briefing late Saturday morning, according to the Associated Press.
She added that nearly every fire truck in Buffalo had been stranded and stuck in the snow as of Saturday morning.
The extreme drop in temperatures is expected to make this year’s Christmas Eve the coldest on record.
And the strain on energy systems across the country increased with heating demand soaring and damage to power lines caused by the storm.
This left more than 800,000 people without power, down from 1.8 million homes and businesses early Saturday, according to the Power Outage website.
The disruptions have upended the daily routines and vacation plans of millions of Americans during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year, according to Reuters.
Today, about 2,700 US flights were canceled and more than 6,200 were postponed, according to Flight Aware, which reported that 5,936 flights were canceled the day before yesterday.
Already, weather-related accidents have occurred across the country, killing at least 16 people and stranding thousands on roads in snow, media reported.
A senior official in Erie County, New York state, said about 500 people were stranded in their cars from Friday evening through Saturday morning, and the National Guard was called in to assist with rescue operations. He added that at least one person was found dead in a car.
Officials said that two drivers were killed and many injured in a collision between 50 cars during a snow storm that closed a road near Toledo, Ohio. Stranded drivers and passengers were evacuated by buses so they would not freeze inside their cars.
Three deaths were reported in Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear on Saturday warned residents, “Stay home, stay safe and stay alive.”
“I know it’s really difficult because it’s Christmas Eve. But we have dozens and dozens of incidents,” he said in an online briefing.
The National Weather Service said temperatures are expected to drop to minus 13 degrees Celsius in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, beating previous records set on Christmas Eve by minus 10 degrees Celsius in 1983.
The cities of Athens, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, are also expected to have the lowest temperatures on the day before Christmas, while Washington, D.C., is expected to have the coldest weather on this day since 1989.
Minneapolis was the coldest place in the country on Saturday, with temperatures reaching minus 14 degrees.
The severe weather has prompted authorities across the country to open heating stations in libraries and police stations as they scramble to provide more temporary housing for the homeless.
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