In Buffalo, one of the snowiest American cities in the country, residents band together to weather the harsh winter conditions. The city is under a violent and sprawling storm, which struck parts of the country last week and destroyed western New York.
Hundreds were stranded in their cars, and others were stuck in homes covered in six-foot drifts, Saturday.
This scene increases the pressure on the rescue teams, who have already conducted dozens of rescue operations, Friday and Saturday morning. They pull people out of cars as it gets dark.
Some residents have also prepared for another night in the house without electricity, and there is no safe way to get shelter elsewhere.
The intensity of the precipitation left the streets in such difficult conditions that sometimes even snowplows could not open them.
The storm’s scope is almost unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes region near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico.
So far, the storm has claimed the lives of at least 29 people across the United States, while it is expected to claim more lives after some residents were trapped inside homes.
Buffalo bills trying to get their cars out of the snow is insane. 🤯
📹: @HamlinIsland pic.twitter.com/aOwUm8mbQN
– gabb goudy (@gabbgoudy) December 25, 2022
The National Weather Service said that about 60 percent of the population of the United States had encountered some kind of warning or alert of winter weather, and temperatures had dropped significantly from the normal range from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains.
Weather woes are likely to continue for travelers, as about 1,707 domestic and international flights had already been canceled Sunday, as of about 2 p.m. EST, according to tracking website FlightAware.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that nearly all of Buffalo’s fire engines were stranded on Saturday.
Officials said Buffalo airport will be closed until Tuesday morning.
Big trouble across US, no energy, no water in snow areas pic.twitter.com/9PUe55T23h
— Tension (@Spriter0000) December 25, 2022
The National Weather Service said total snow at Buffalo Niagara International Airport reached 109 centimeters at 7 a.m. Sunday.
Daylight Sunday morning revealed cars nearly covered in 6 feet of snow darkened by a lack of power.
With snow in the streets and winds gusting at 40 mph.
29 deaths
Two people died at their homes in the suburb of Cheektowaga, New York, on Friday when emergency teams were unable to reach them in time to treat their medical conditions, and another died in Buffalo.
Four more deaths were confirmed overnight, bringing the total to seven in Erie County.
Erie County official Mark Poloncars warned that there could be more deaths.
“Some of the dead were found in cars, and some were found on the street on the edge of the snow,” Boloncars said.
“We know that there are people stuck in cars for more than 2 days,” he added.
🚨#BREAKINGWild scene from Buffalo as homes are fully covered in ice
Jaw dropping video shows houses covered in ice homes near the water were encased in ice and dripping with icicles from Powerful winds and strong waves from Lake Erie pic.twitter.com/q9GFeEhE6u
– RAWSALERTS (@rawsalerts) December 25, 2022
Storm-related deaths have been reported in recent days across the country. In addition to seven in Erie County, New York, and another in Niagara County, 10 were killed in Ohio, including a worker who was electrocuted and six motorists killed in accidents in Missouri, Kansas, and Kentucky. , a Vermont woman struck by a fallen tree branch, a homeless man in Colorado, and a woman who fell through the ice of the Wisconsin River.
Freezing conditions and a power outage a day ago sent Buffalo residents scrambling to get anywhere with heat amid what has been described as the longest continuous blizzard condition ever in the city.
But with the streets under a blanket of snow, a number of people could not reach the heated areas.
Others were trapped in sports cars when the snow caught them.
The storm caused power outages in cities from Maine to Seattle, but power has been restored in most of those cities.
NEW VIDEO: Snow drifts are reaching the height of SUVs in the Buffalo area as this historic blizzard gradually winds down. Some cars have been abandoned in the middle of roads during the height of the lake-effect snowstorm. #NYwx #snow pic.twitter.com/0v90aofgsX
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) December 25, 2022
water shortage
In Jackson, Mississippi, city officials announced on Christmas Day that residents must now boil their drinking water because water lines burst due to freezing temperatures while in Tampa, Florida, the thermometer dropped below freezing for the first time in nearly Five years, according to the National Weather Service.
A number of iguanas (cold-blooded) were killed and a number of them were seen falling from trees.
A drop causes the cold-blooded iguana to fall from the trees.