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Blizzard In Buffalo, New York, Area Kills 13 People
(CTN NEWS) – Lethal blizzard crippled Buffalo, New York, on Christmas Day, trapping motorists and rescue workers in their vehicles, leaving thousands of houses without power, and upping the death toll from storms that have chilled most of the U.S.
At least 30 people have died in U.S. weather-related accidents since a harsh frost overtook most of the nation, combined with snow, ice, and howling winds on Friday.
CNN lists 26 weather-related deaths.
Much of the death has occurred in and around Buffalo, New York, on the edge of Lake Erie, where numbing cold and heavy “lake-effect” snow lasted into the holiday weekend.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said 13 storm-related deaths had been confirmed, up from three overnight in Buffalo. Poloncarz said the latest deaths were found in cars and snow banks, and the death toll could grow.
Poloncarz tweeted Sunday, “This is not the Christmas any of us hoped for.” Condolences to bereaved families.
Our @ECDOH confirms of the 12 deaths:
– 4 were found outside;
– 1 was found in a car;
– 3 were from snow shoveling/blowing cardiac events;
– 1 was found inside; &
– 3 were for delayed EMS Response.
Sadly, we're getting reports of additional deaths that still need to be confirmed.— Mark Poloncarz (@markpoloncarz) December 26, 2022
New York Governor Kathy Hochul termed it a “epic, once-in-a-lifetime” weather calamity, the worst winter storm to hit Buffalo since a 1977 blizzard that killed nearly 30 people.
Hochul said the present storm will certainly be remembered as “the blizzard of ’22”
RESCUE RESCUERS
Six weeks ago, a record-setting lake-effect storm hit western New York.
Despite a prohibition on road travel since Friday, hundreds of Erie County motorists were stuck over the weekend, with National Guard troops called in to help with rescues.
Many snow ploughs and other equipment sent Saturday and Sunday were stranded, so “we had to rescue the rescuers,” he said.
Buffalo police asked individuals “with a snowmobile and eager to help” to phone a hotline for instructions.
Even for a winter-hardy location, the storm was severe.
Christina Klaffka, 39, of North Buffalo, observed her neighbor’s shingles blow off in “hurricane-like winds.” Her neighbourhood lost power Saturday night and was still without it Sunday morning.
Storm clouds pass by One World Trade Center in New York as a woman walks her dog in Hoboken, New Jersey.
“My TV kept flickering during the Bills-Bears game. After the third quarter, I lost power “saying,
John Burns, 58, a retiree in North Buffalo, said the storm and intense cold imprisoned him and his family for 36 hours.
“Nobody outside. Nobody walked dogs “saying Two days passed without incident.
Snowfall totals were hard to estimate, he said, because fierce winds prevented accumulation between houses but piled up a 5-foot (1.5-meter) drift “in front of my garage.”
Hochul told reporters Sunday that the Biden administration will back her disaster declaration request.
Hochul said 200 National Guard members were sent to western New York to help police and fire crews, conduct health checks, and supply shelters.
ELECTRICITY STRUCK
The larger storm system was moving east on Sunday after knocking out power to 1.5 million consumers late last week and triggering thousands of flight cancellations during holiday travel.
PowerOutage.us reported 150,000 U.S. households and businesses without power on Sunday, down from 1.8 million early Saturday. Poloncarz said 15,000 Buffalo residents lacked power Sunday night.
One substation was walled off by an 18-foot-tall snow pile, and utility technicians found it frozen inside.
“Christmas Day temperatures, while rebounding from near-zero readings on Saturday, remained far below average over the central and eastern U.S. and below freezing as far south as the Gulf Coast,” a NWS meteorologist said.
White-out conditions lingered south of Buffalo into the afternoon as squalls dumped 2-3 inches of snow an hour.
In Kentucky, three storm-related deaths were verified since Friday, while a 50-vehicle pileup shut down the Ohio Turnpike during a blizzard on Friday.
News sources say excessive cold or weather caused vehicle accidents in Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas, and Colorado.
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