On Christmas Day, a catastrophic blizzard paralyzed Buffalo, New York, trapping commuters in their vehicles, knocking out power to thousands of homes, and boosting the death toll from a severe winter storm system that had chilled most of the United States for days.
According to an NBC News tally, at least 30 people have died in weather-related accidents in the United States since a deep chill gripped most of the country, accompanied by snow, ice, and howling winds from a storm that roared out of the Great Lakes region late last week.
Much of the death toll has been concentrated in and around Buffalo, New York, on the shores of Lake Erie, where biting cold and heavy “lake-effect” snow — the result of cool air flowing over warmer lake waters — has continued through the holiday weekend.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz stated on Sunday that the storm’s confirmed death toll had risen to 12, up from three reported overnight in the Buffalo area.
Poloncarz added that the latest casualties included some found in cars and others in snow banks, and that the death toll could rise higher.
Hundreds of Erie County commuters were trapped in their vehicles over the weekend due to a driving prohibition in effect since Friday, with National Guard troops called in to assist with rescues complicated by white-out conditions and drifting snow, according to Poloncarz.
“This is not the Christmas that any of us wished for or expected,” Poloncarz tweeted on Sunday.
“Please accept my heartfelt sympathies to the families who have lost loved ones.”
The Buffalo Police Department issued an online plea for public aid in search-and-recovery efforts, instructing individuals who “have a snowmobile and are ready to help” to phone a special hotline.
Even in a region accustomed to harsh winter weather, the magnitude of the storm was striking.
Christina Klaffka, 39, of North Buffalo, watched as shingles blew off her neighbor’s house and her windows rattled from “hurricane-like winds.”
On Saturday evening, she and her entire neighborhood lost power, and she was still without power on Sunday morning.
“While trying to watch the Buffalo Bills-Chicago Bears game, my TV started flickering.
“I lost power soon after the third quarter,” she explained.
John Burns, 58, a retired man from North Buffalo, said he and his family were stranded in their home for 36 hours due to the storm and harsh cold, which he described as “cruel and nasty.”
“No one was outside. “No one was even walking their dogs,” he explained. “There was nothing going on for two days.”
Snowfall totals were difficult to estimate because of strong gusts, which decreased accumulation between houses but piled up a 5-foot drift “in front of my garage.”
The Biden administration agreed to back New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s request for a federal disaster declaration, she told reporters on Sunday.
According to Hochul, 200 National Guard members were mobilized in western New York to assist police and fire departments, conduct health checks, and supply supplies to shelters.
On Sunday, the storm was moving east after knocking out power to up to 1.5 million consumers late last week and triggering thousands of commercial aircraft cancellations during the peak holiday travel season.
According to PowerOutage.us, more over 150,000 US households and businesses were without power on Sunday, a significant decrease from the 1.8 million without power early Saturday. According to officials, 16% of Buffalo residents were without power on Sunday.
In Canada, at least 140,000 utility customers were without power, largely in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, which were badly struck by the same weather system that covered western New York in snow.
According to airline tracker FlightAware, more than 1,700 flights in the United States had been canceled as of lunchtime Sunday.
Temperatures on Christmas Day, while beginning to rise from near-zero readings on Saturday, were significantly below average over the central and eastern United States, and below freezing even as far south as the Gulf Coast, according to National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Rich Otto.
The Buffalo airport got over 4 feet of snow by Sunday, according to the Weather Service. On Sunday afternoon, whiteout conditions persisted south of Buffalo, with snow falling at a pace of 2-3 inches per hour.
Officials in Kentucky reported three storm-related deaths since Friday, while at least four people were killed and numerous others were injured in auto-related incidents in Ohio, where a 50-vehicle pileup shut down the Ohio Turnpike in both directions on Friday during a blizzard.
According to news reports, more deaths were recorded in Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas, and Colorado as a result of extreme cold or weather-related automobile accidents.
Authorities confirmed on Sunday that four people were killed and others were injured in a Christmas Eve bus disaster near Loon Lake in Canada’s British Columbia, which police said was likely caused by icy road conditions.
