Extreme cold gripping the United States should begin to ease Tuesday in the East and Midwest, after the worst winter storm of the century will claim the lives of at least 49 people and transport will collapse on Christmas weekend.
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“Temperatures are expected to moderate in the Midwest and East over the next few days,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said in its latest report early Tuesday, but warned that “locally hazardous travel conditions” would persist.
It is heartbreaking to receive calls from families with children who say they are frozen
“It’s too early to say it’s over,” New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference Monday. “It’s clearly the blizzard of the century,” added the Buffalo-born official, the epicenter of the storm.
Authorities described harsh conditions, especially in Buffalo, with power outages that lasted for hours, people killed in vehicles and under snowbanks, and emergency personnel going “vehicle by vehicle” in search of survivors.
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The storm with heavy snow squalls, hurricane-force winds and sub-zero temperatures forced the cancellation of more than 15,000 flights in recent days, including nearly 4,000 on Mondayaccording to the FlightAware tracking site.
Hochul spoke Monday with President Joe Biden, who has offered the “full force of the federal government” to support New York state, and said he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for those who lost loved ones in the storm. , according to a statement from the White House.
It’s too soon to say it’s over
Biden also approved an emergency declaration for the state, the White House reported.
The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast up to 35 centimeters more snow on Monday, on top of the several meters that had already buried the city, as officials struggled to get emergency services reestablished.
Erie County Clerk Mark Poloncarz tweeted Monday afternoon that the blizzard-related death toll had risen to 27 countywide, including 14 people found out in the open and three discovered in a car.
At a news conference earlier in the day, Poloncarz said Erie’s death toll would likely exceed that of the historic 1977 Buffalo blizzard, when nearly 30 people died.
With more snow forecast and most of Buffalo “impassable”, he joined Hochul in warning residents to take shelter and stay in place.
Snow accumulations of up to 2.4 meters
National Guardsmen and other first responders have already rescued hundreds of people from snow-covered cars and homes without power, but authorities said there are still people trapped.
“It’s heartbreaking to get calls from families with children who say they’re frozen,” Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, who called the storm “the worst” he’s ever seen, told CNN.
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“It’s (like) going to a war zone, and the vehicles on the side of the roads are shocking,” Hochul said, describing the 2.4-meter snowdrifts and “buried” rescue vehicles.
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.
massive power outages
At one point on Saturday, nearly 1.7 million homes were without power from the storm, according to the specialized website poweroutage.us.
Blackouts were substantially reduced, although as of Monday morning there were still about 50,000 subscribers without power on the US East Coast.
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Due to frozen power substations, some Erie County residents were not expected to get power back until Tuesday.
Buffalo International Airport was closed as of Tuesday and a driving ban remains in effect for the city and much of Erie County.
The icy roads have also led to the temporary closure of some of the country’s busiest routes, including Interstate 70, which runs through much of the United States from east to west.
The weather is expected to gradually improve as the week progresses.
AFP
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