BUFFALO: Emergency services in New York raced Monday to rescue stranded citizens from the "blizzard of the century," an ongoing storm that has killed nearly 50 people nationwide and disrupted Christmas travel.
A massive outpouring of extreme weather severely hit the country for several days, leading to massive power outages, long travel delays and at least 49 deaths across nine states, according to official data. Blizzard conditions are still in place in some areas of the Northeast of America.
New York state officials described brutal conditions, with hours-long whiteouts, bodies found in cars and under snow banks, and emergency crews going "car by car" in search of more drivers, alive or dead, especially in Buffalo.
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The perfect storm of severe snow, howling wind, and below-freezing temperatures forced the cancellation of more than 15,000 US flights in recent days, including more than 3,800 on Monday, according to flight tracking website Flightaware.com .
The epicenter of the crisis is Buffalo, a city in Erie County that is accustomed to harsh winter weather, and is completely covered in snow.
New York Governor Cathy Hochul told reporters that the storm was "without a doubt the blizzard of the century", but that it was "too early to say that it's over."
According to Hochul, some towns in western New York "received 30 to 40 inches (0.75 to 1 m) of snow overnight."
Hochul spoke with President Joe Biden later on Monday, according to a White House statement. Biden promised New York state "the full force of the federal government" and said he and First Lady Jill Biden were praying for those who lost loved ones in the storm.
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In addition to the several feet of snow that has already covered the city, the National Weather Service predicted 14 more inches of snow for Monday, and officials are still working to restore emergency services.
Erie County Executive Mark Polonkarz tweeted on Monday afternoon that a total of 27 people have died due to the blizzard in the county, including 14 found outside and three found inside a car.
Polonkarz predicted that Erie's death toll would likely exceed Buffalo's infamous blizzard of 1977, which killed nearly 30 people during a press conference earlier in the day.
He joined Hochul in advising residents to shelter in place as more snow was expected and most of Buffalo was "impassable".
Hundreds of people have been rescued from snow-covered cars and darkened homes by the National Guard and other teams, but are still trapped, according to officials.
According to Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, the storm was "the worst" he had ever seen because there were times when there was no visibility and no one could respond to emergency calls.
He told CNN that when you get calls from families with children saying they're freezing, it's heartbreaking. Buffalo-resident Hochul claimed his tour of the city left him speechless after what he saw.
Hochul described eight-foot (2.4-meter) drifts as well as snow plows and rescue vehicles being "buried" in the snow and added, "It's (like) going into a war zone, and The roads are shocking with vehicles side by side."
Mother Nature is at war with us, she declared. All 48 US states experienced below-freezing temperatures over the weekend as a result of the extreme weather, including in Texas communities near the Mexico border, where some recent immigrants have found it difficult to find shelter.
According to tracker poweroutage.us, about 1.7 million customers were without power at one point in the cold winter Saturday. Although about 50,000 people were without power on the US East Coast as of noon on Monday, that number has dropped significantly.
Some Erie County residents were not expected to get power back until Tuesday due to the shutdown of electrical substations; According to a senior county official, a substation was reportedly covered by 18 feet of snow.
Driving was banned in the city of Buffalo and a large portion of Erie County as of Tuesday, and the airport's international terminal is still closed.
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Some of the nation's busiest transportation routes, including a section of the Interstate 70 highway that runs across the country, were temporarily closed as a result of road snow and whiteout conditions.
Even as the country entered what would normally be its busiest travel season of the year, drivers were being advised not to take to the roads.