More than 50 people died in the blizzard in America, the family was hugged for several days

Buffalo:

The monstrous storm that killed dozens of people in the United States over the Christmas weekend continued to inflict misery on New York state and Hawaii travelers on Tuesday, as stories emerged of families stranded for days during the “blizzard of the century.”

The death toll from the winter storm rose to more than 50 after officials confirmed three more deaths in western New York’s Erie County, the epicenter of the crisis.

“The police department expects that number to rise” tweeted Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo, the largest city in Lakeside County – which has been paralyzed for five days by chest-deep snow banks and power outages, and where Tuesday More snowfall was forecast. ,

Cathy Hochul, the governor of New York State and a Buffalo native, described the aftermath of the storm as “a war zone”.

“This is definitely the blizzard of the century,” Hochul told reporters on Monday.

As temperatures plummeted, commuters and some residents fleeing their freezing homes were trapped on the highways, unable to be rescued.

The problem was compounded when ambulances could not reach some areas for dozens of hours, and snow plows were unable to do their job due to the intensity of the storm – in some cases requiring rescue workers.

The family of Andell Taylor, a 22-year-old Buffalo resident, said he died in his car after he got stuck on his way home from work.

A video sent by Taylor and posted by his sister shows his vehicle covered in snow up to its windows.

Her family in North Carolina told local TV station WSOC-TV that emergency responders, who were themselves trapped trying to rescue her, found her dead 18 hours later, possibly due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to The New York Times, a father described being trapped in his vehicle on the streets of Buffalo with his four young children for 11 hours before being rescued.

Zilla Santiago, 30, said she kept her engine running to provide some heat and fed her children juice she found in her trunk.

They were finally rescued at dawn by a snow plough.

In a city not used to blizzards, some residents were blaming a travel ban they said was imposed too late on Friday morning as contributing to the extent of the disaster.

– ‘Worst Christmas Ever’ –

The perfect storm of severe snow, howling wind and sub-zero temperatures has caused the cancellation of nearly 20,000 US flights in recent days, including more than 3,000 on Tuesday, according to the tracking site Flightaware.com.

Most of the cancellations on Tuesday were at Southwest Airlines, which pulled more than 60 percent of its flights because of logistics issues, earning it a rebuke from the US government.

The Department of Transportation tweeted that it was “concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations” and would investigate whether the company was “complying with its customer service plan”, while the US Senate committee that oversees aviation said that it would look into those reasons to “go ahead” with the season.”

US President Joe Biden on Monday approved an emergency declaration for New York state to free up funds to help it recover from the disaster.

Buffalo’s international airport remained closed as of Wednesday morning and restrictions on driving remained in effect in the city, where thousands were still without power.

“You absolutely can go out and walk to check on neighbors, go to store openings, but don’t drive,” County Executive Mark Poloncarz warned in a tweet.

Bill Sherlock, a longtime Buffalo resident, told AFP about four feet of snow had fallen on his home, but he was lucky to have running power and food.

said the 38-year-old lawyer – who was less fortunate “probably had the worst Christmas of his life” – noting that some homes in his neighborhood have had no electricity since Friday.

Sherlock said he might wait another day before leaving the house for the first time in almost a week: “We’re not going anywhere unless we have to.”

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told CNN that several incidents of looting were reported in the city over the Christmas weekend and eight arrests were made.

The National Weather Service predicted isolated areas of snow in western New York on Tuesday, but a thaw has been observed.

Relief from warmer temperatures of about 50 °F (10 °C) was forecast for the weekend, although officials warned that melting snow could cause minor flooding.

Extreme weather over the weekend sent temperatures below zero in all mainland US states, including Texas communities along the Mexico border, where some arriving migrants have struggled to find shelter.

According to tracker poweroutage.us, about 1.7 million customers were without power in the severe winter Saturday.

Road snow and whiteout conditions temporarily closed some of the nation’s busiest transportation routes, including part of the cross-country Interstate 70 highway.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)