CNN
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As a huge winter storm continues to blast much of the United States with brutal winter weather – resulting in at least 37 deaths nationwide – parts of western New York have been buried by up to 43 inches of snow leaving vehicles stranded and turned off for thousands over the Christmas weekend.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told CNN the storm was “the most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long history.” The heavy snowfall and blizzard made roads impassable with zero visibility, froze electrical substations and left at least 17 people across the state. dead Sunday night.
Western New York is drowning in thick ‘lake effect’ snow – which forms when cold air moves over the warm waters of the Great Lakes – just a month after the region was hit by a storm historic snowfall.
As rescue teams and hundreds of plow drivers rolled out on Christmas Day, even emergency and recovery vehicles sent to help got stuck in the snow. Eleven ambulances that had to be abandoned were dug up on Sunday, officials said.
“The rescue team was rescuing the rescuers…it was so awful,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a Sunday news conference. Many weather-related deaths in New York have occurred in Erie County, where some people have been found dead in cars and on the streets in snowdrifts, he said.
The reported deaths in Buffalo “are of people found outdoors and in cars,” a Buffalo police statement said.
Hundreds of National Guard troops have been deployed to assist with rescue efforts in New York. State police had been involved in more than 500 rescues Sunday, including delivering a baby and helping a man with 4% remaining on his mechanical heart, the governor said.
“We are still in the throes of this very dangerous and life-threatening situation,” Hochul said, urging residents to stay off the roads as a driving ban remains in place in Erie County through Monday.
“Our state and county plows have been out there, nonstop, giving time and putting themselves in harm’s way, driving through blinding snowstorms to clear the roads,” Hochul said.
As scorching blizzard conditions swept through the area, about 500 motorists were stranded in their vehicles from Friday evening to Saturday morning, according to Poloncarz, who described frightening conditions on the road.
“Think of staring a few meters ahead of you at a white sheet for more than 24 hours straight. It was like that outside in the worst conditions,” he said. “It was a blizzard and continuous blanks such that no one could see where they were going. No one had the faintest idea what was going on. »
As abandoned vehicles dot the snow-covered roads — with hundreds of cars still on the streets of Buffalo — conditions are also harsh inside homes.
Some residents have remained at home for the past 56 hours, some without power in the freezing cold, Hochul said at the news conference. This is not due to a lack of resources, the governor said, but rather a mobility and access challenge faced by utility companies.
By Sunday evening, 94.5% of Erie County residents and 87% of Buffalo residents had their power restored, Hochul said.
Still, there were 12,000 homes and businesses in Erie County without power Sunday night, and many will have no lights or heat until Tuesday, Poloncarz said.
Buffalo will continue to see snowfall and freezing temperatures Monday, with a high of 23 degrees expected during the day and a low of 18 overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
In pictures: Winter storm hits the United States
Over the past week, the prolonged winter storm has enveloped much of the United States with dangerously low temperatures and wind chills, also leading to widespread power outages and thousands of canceled flights.
More than 10 million people were under frost alert in the South on Monday, including residents of Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Mobile, Montgomery and Birmingham.
Below freezing temperatures are expected in affected areas, where temperatures will be in the 20s and below 20s, which could kill crops and damage plumbing. The majority of these alerts are due to expire on Monday morning as temperatures finally begin to recover from polar air.
Nationwide, about 90,000 customers were without power as of early Monday, according to PowerOutage.US. Since the start of the storm, the number of outages has sometimes exceeded one million customers.
The storm also hampered travel to the United States over the busy holiday weekend, with more than 5,000 flights canceled on Friday, more than 3,400 flights canceled on Saturday and more than 3,100 canceled for Christmas Day. At least 1,200 flights within, to or from the United States have already been canceled as of 4 a.m. ET Monday, according to tracking site FlightAware.
Since the arrival of the brutal weather, several deaths related to the storm have been reported in several states. In addition to deaths in New York, fatalities include:
• Colorado: Police in Colorado Springs, Colorado, have reported two cold-related deaths since Thursday, with a man found near an electrical transformer in an apartment building possibly seeking heat, and another in a camp in an alley.
• Kansas: Three people have died in weather-related traffic crashes, the Kansas Highway Patrol said Friday.
• Kentucky: Three people have died in the state, officials said, including one involving a car crash in Montgomery County.
• Missouri: A person has died after a trailer slid off an icy road and into a frozen creek, Kansas City police said.
• Ohio: Nine people died in weather-related car crashes, including four in a Saturday morning crash on Interstate 75 when a tractor-trailer crossed the median and collided with an SUV and a van, authorities said.
• Tennessee: The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed one death related to the storm on Friday.
• Wisconsin: The Wisconsin State Patrol reported a fatal accident Thursday due to winter conditions.
The powerful system that triggered the blizzard and winter weather warnings continues to move away from the northeast, but many cities and towns remain blanketed in deep snow. Over a 24-hour period, Baraga, Michigan received 42.8 inches of snow while Watertown, New York received 34.2 inches.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, had its snowiest Christmas Eve ever, receiving a record 10.5 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Winter storm warnings remain in effect in New York for Buffalo, Jamestown and Watertown and will expire within the next two days. Forecasts show Jamestown could see another 8 inches of snow, Buffalo could see another 14 inches and Watertown could see another 3 feet. Winds could also blow up to 40 mph.
Lake effect snow warnings remain north of Jamestown until 10 a.m. EST Tuesday, an area where up to 18 inches are possible.
Persistent lake-effect snows blowing downwind of the Great Lakes will slowly become less intense, but arctic air shrouding much of the eastern half of the country will be slow to moderate, according to the National Weather Service.
Lake effect snows will continue to create hazardous travel conditions over the next few days and conditions are expected to slowly improve over the week.
The low pressure system is expected to move further into Canada, while another system will move rapidly across the northern United States through Monday, bringing snow from the northern plains to the Midwest.
Much of the rest of the eastern part of the country will still be frozen until Monday before a moderating trend sets in on Tuesday, forecasters said.