Winter storm Elliott – latest: Driving ban lifted in Buffalo as blizzard deaths hit 38
Buffalo region worst affected in US with at least 38 deaths after blizzard dumped 50 inches of snow on city
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One of the coldest Christmases in modern memory has left more than 60 people dead across the US, with 38 people killed in and around the city of Buffalo, which was hammered by over 50 inches of snow.
Nearly a week after the extreme blizzard, the driving ban in Buffalo was lifted on Thursday, although motorists have been advised to be careful around snow-removal equipment and at intersections.
“Hundreds of very large pieces of equipment will still be out clearing streets from curb-to-curb,” Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz warned in a tweet.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Poloncarz confirmed three additional deaths, marking the deadliest storm in western New York in at least two generations.
National Guard went door to door conducting welfare checks in neighbourhoods that lost electricity. As the city continues to dig out of the storm, the death toll is expected to climb further.
Beyond New York state, winter storm Elliott’s icy bite also saw temperatures plunge to record lows in parts of Montana, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming, and wrought havoc on Christmas travel plans.
Another nine inches of snow forecast for western New York
Up to nine more inches of snow (23 centimeters) could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday, the National Weather Service has forecast.
“This is not the end yet,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, calling the blizzard “the worst storm probably in our lifetime,” even for an area accustomed to punishing snow.
Some people, he noted, were stranded in their cars for more than two days.
AP
Biden spoke with New York Governor Hochul
Per the White House:
President Joseph R Biden, Jr called Governor Kathy Hochul to offer the full force of the Federal government in support of the people of New York as the state grapples with the impacts of a historic winter storm. The President shared that his and the First Lady’s prayers are with the people of New York and all those who lost loved ones. He expressed his gratitude to the Governor for her leadership and to the National Guard, law enforcement, and first responders for their tireless work. The President relayed that he has directed his team to respond immediately to any request the Governor makes for Federal assistance.
Biden approves New York emergency declaration, calls in FEMA
President Joe Biden said his prayers were with the victims’ families, and offered federal assistance Monday to the hard-hit state.
On Monday he approved a federal response to the New York disaster and called in the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The White House released the following statement:
Today, President Joseph R Biden, Jr declared that an emergency exists in the State of New York and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a severe winter storm beginning on December 23, 2022, and continuing.
The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Erie and Genesee.
Specifically, FEMA is authorised to identify, mobilise, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures (Category B), including direct Federal assistance, under the Public Assistance program will be provided at 75 perc ent Federal funding.
Deanne Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Lai Sun Yee as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.
Mayor slams ‘lowest of the low’ looters in Buffalo
The chaos of the deadly winter storm as it hit Buffalo has given cover to looters who have struck local businesses knowing any police response would be hampered by the deep snow and dangerous driving conditions.
“I don’t know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told reporters on Monday.
“They are the lowest of the low,” Mr Brown said of the opportunistic thieves.
“People who are out looting when people are losing their lives in this harsh winter storm is just absolutely reprehensible,” he said.
“They’re not looting foods and medicines, they’re just looting items that they want. So these aren’t even people in distress,” the mayor said. “These are people who are taking advantage of a national disaster and the suffering of many in our community to take what they want.”
The situation reportedly improved throughout Monday as officers were moved back to their regular patrols. Some arrests have been made.
Photos: Winter storm unleashes fiercest winter storm across US in decades
Winter Storm Elliott has brought record-low temperatures to many places, including Bozeman, Montana, which reached a bone-chilling -43F.
An estimated 60 per cent of the US population was under some form of weather warning on Christmas Day, according to the Associated Press.
Winter Storm Elliott death toll climbs to 56 as thousands still without power in -40 temperatures
The death toll from an “epic, once-in-a-lifetime” storm that has wrought havoc across the United States rose to at least 56, with the Buffalo area of New York state being one of the hardest-hit places.
Winter storm Elliott has brought temperatures as low as -50F (-45C) across a vast swathe of North America, from the Great Lakes near Canada to Arizona.
More than a million households were without power on Christmas Day according to poweroutage.us, while the travel plans of tens of thousands of people were disrupted by cancelled flights and dangerous roads.
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How did people die as storm hit Buffalo?
The tragic deaths of those in Erie County, which includes the city of Buffalo were cause by a combination of factors relating to the impact of Winter Storm Elliott, including delayed emergency services, cardiac events from shovelling snow, being trapped in vehicles, or exposure to the cold.
Frustrated sports journalist goes viral after being sent into blizzard to cover weather
Sports reporter Mark Woodley has gone viral after he candidly expressed his feelings about being asked to go outside to cover the weather in the midst of a blizzard.
The Iowa-based journalist took to Twitter on Thursday night to share the footage of himself in the snowstorm, as he was doing a weather report for KWWL-TV, a news station in Waterloo. Speaking to the camera, he explained why he was tasked to report on the topic, which he doesn’t usually cover.
“I normally do sports, everything is cancelled here for the next couple of days,” he explained. “So what better time to ask the sports guy to come in about five hours earlier than he would normally wake up. Go stand out in the wind and the snow and the cold and tell other people not to do the same?”
Frustrated sports reporter goes viral after being sent into blizzard to cover weather
‘The good news is that I can still feel my face right now. The bad news is I kind of wish I couldn’t,’ the sports reporter said during the weather segment.
Longest blizzard ever recorded in Buffalo
At 37 hours, winter storm Elliott hit Buffalo with its longest-ever blizzard as the slow-moving system moved away from the Great Lakes, NBC News’ Dylan Dreyer reports.
Watch below:
Extreme cold reached deep into US
The extreme cold that slammed the US over the past week reached deep into the southern states not as accustomed to such frigid temperatures.
Video, shared by Instagram user @guthrie.atx, shows a drive-through HEB car wash in Lakeway, a suburb of Austin, Texas, USA.
Long icicles hang from the overhead lines and a large brush roller. A piece of signage, covered in ice, appears to have fallen, and the ground is also covered in ice.
Lakeway reached low temperatures of 10 Fahrenheit on Friday morning (-12.2 C)and 12 degrees on Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
Temperatures rose above freezing Sunday, and the agency said the warming trend will lead to above-average temperatures Wednesday through Friday.
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