Winter storm death toll rises to 27 in New York and the area
Days into a deadly winter storm that bedevilled much of the US with freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall, officials in Buffalo, New York, are focused on life-safety measures, ploughing through thick snow to get to stranded drivers and to make way for emergency services.
At least 27 people have died due to the storm in New York’s Erie County – many of them in Buffalo, which was buried by up to 43 inches of snow and slammed with fierce blizzard conditions that made for blinding drives over the Christmas weekend.
The storm has drawn comparisons to Buffalo’s famous blizzard of 1977 – a powerful storm that left 23 people dead.
This storm, however, was more ferocious than the blizzard of 1977, Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said. “It was just horrendous, and it was horrendous for 24 hours in a row.”
“They recorded blizzard conditions for 37.5 hours. That just doesn’t happen,” Meteorologist Tom Sater said.
Even emergency and recovery vehicles sent out to help have gotten stuck in the snow. Poloncarz said Buffalo was left “impassable in most areas.”
Conditions improved on Monday, making it easier for rescue crews to reach hundreds who were stranded in Buffalo, Buffalo City Mayor Byron Brown said.
“Buffalo Police have provided hundreds of rescues and have rescued many stranded motorists in the city of Buffalo,” Brown said. “In some of these circumstances, some of these people might not have survived if it weren’t for the efforts of first responders to rescue them from vehicles.”
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