A Monster Storm Brings Rain, Snow, And Cold Across U.S, Killing 18 People

(CTN NEWS) – BUFFALO, N.Y. – At least 18 people were murdered when a bitter winter storm ravaged the nation, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses and causing millions of people to worry that there would be a blackout on Christmas Eve.

Hurricane-force winds caused whiteout conditions as the storm unleashed its full fury on Buffalo, New York. The international airport of the city was closed, paralyzing emergency response attempts.

Authorities in the United States have blamed deaths on the storm’s impacts, including exposure, car accidents, a falling tree limb, and others.

In the Buffalo area, at least three individuals perished, including two who had medical issues in their homes.

But couldn’t be saved because emergency personnel couldn’t get to them due to the region’s record-breaking blizzard conditions.

Buffalo residents hurried out of their homes on Saturday in search of any place that offered heat due to the deep snow, single-digit temperatures, and day-old power outages.

Almost every fire engine in the city was stuck in the snow, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and the Buffalo Niagara International Airport would remain closed through Monday morning.

“No matter how many fire trucks we have, they cannot pass through the traffic right now,” Hochul stated.

A significant electrical grid operator warned the 65 million people it serves across the eastern United States that rolling blackouts may be necessary as blinding blizzards and freezing rain.

And bitter cold also knocked off power in locations from Maine to Seattle.

Power plants are having trouble working in the bitter cold, according to Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection, which has encouraged residents in 13 states to save electricity until Christmas morning.

Ten million people in the state of Tennessee and portions of six neighboring states receive electricity from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Which gave local power providers the order to carry out planned blackouts but terminated the policy by Saturday afternoon.

An anticipated power outage in Nashville caused the start of the Tennessee Titans’ NFL game to be postponed by one hour.

More than 273,000 people were still without electricity in all six New England states. Maine was the hardest hit, and several utilities have warned that it might be days before power is restored.

Although the number of powerless customers in North Carolina had decreased from over 485,000 to 169,000 as of this afternoon, utility officials predicted rolling blackouts will last for “the next few days.”

James Reynolds of Greensboro was one of those without power, and he reported that his housemate, a 70-year-old diabetic and severely arthritic person.

Spent the morning wrapped up next to a kerosene heater with the temperature inside “hovering in the 50s.”

According to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, two persons in the Cheektowaga neighborhood of Buffalo died in their homes on Friday because emergency personnel could not get to them in time to treat their medical issues.

Adding that the blizzard may have been “the deadliest storm in our community’s history,” he stated that another person had died in Buffalo.

According to Poloncarz, an ambulance ride to a hospital took longer than three hours.

As of Saturday, Buffalo had received 28 inches (71 centimeters) of snow, according to forecasters. During a single storm, a record 6 feet (nearly 1.8 meters) of snow fell in certain regions just south of the city last month.

The most recent storm destroyed Brian LaPrade’s Buffalo home’s furnace, and when he woke up on Saturday morning, it was minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit inside (10 degrees Celsius).

LaPrade stated, “I had to go outside and clean the vents.” The snow was higher than my snow blower as it was.

Large snow drifts, abandoned cars, and downed power lines hampered the work of the road ploughs.

Four people lost their lives in an accident involving 50 automobiles on the Ohio Turnpike.

Three more people died in separate collisions on icy northern Kansas roads on Wednesday, and a driver from Kansas City, Missouri, died on Thursday after sliding into a creek.

According to the Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative, a utility worker in Ohio died on Friday while attempting to restore power.

The 22-year-old was claimed to have passed away in Lawrence County close to Pedro in “an electrical contact event.”

A tree in Vermont crashed on a woman on Friday, breaking in the strong winds and killing her in the hospital.

As snow and subzero temperatures settled on the area, Colorado Springs police reported that they discovered the body of a person who seemed to be homeless.

The Rock County Sheriff’s Office said a 57-year-old lady died Friday after slipping through the ice on a river close to Janesville, Wisconsin.

Terry Henderson and her husband Rick were stranded in a severe traffic jam along Interstate 71 in Kentucky for 34 hours due to numerous incidents.

The truck drivers endured the wait in a vehicle equipped with a diesel heater, a bathroom, and a refrigerator but afterward regretted attempting to drive from Alabama to their home in the Akron, Ohio, area for Christmas.

Terry Henderson said once they started moving again on Saturday, “We should have remained.”

The storm’s size was almost unheard of, extending from the Rio Grande near Mexico’s border to the Great Lakes in Canada.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures fell below average from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, affecting around 60% of the country’s population.

More than 2,360 flights inside, into, or out of the United States were canceled on Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, as millions of Americans were flying in advance of Christmas.

As they awaited a U.S. Supreme Court judgement on pandemic-era limits that bar many from applying for asylum, migrants camping near the U.S. border in Mexico were experiencing exceptionally low weather.

Forecasters reported that a bomb cyclone occurs when atmospheric pressure rapidly decreases during a powerful storm.

Had formed close to the Great Lakes, causing blizzard-like conditions, including severe winds and snowfall.

Lake-effect snow, which occurs when cool air absorbs moisture from the warm water and then dumps it on land, is a common sight in Western New York. However, even locals reported poor conditions on Christmas Eve.

Latricia Stroud and her two kids, ages 1 and 12, have been stuck in their Buffalo home without heat or electricity since Friday afternoon because it is too snowy to leave.

Stroud told the AP, “I have to go over a snowbank to get out.” I need a ride to the warming center because there is one there.

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