The most brutal winter storm in decades in the US it has caused the death of more than 30 people and the numbers alone continue to rise. Furthermore, it has left tens of thousands of homes without power, and even some residents trapped in their homes with huge snowdrifts on their doorsteps.
The weather has been extreme in various states of the North American country, where heavy snowfall and temperatures down to -48ºChave caused the cancellation of thousands of flights and made many roads impassable in the height of the travel season due to the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Brutal winter storm in the US accounts for more than 30 victims
Particularly Erie County, located in northwestern New York state, was hit hard. As well as the city of Buffalo, the second largest in the state, which ended up isolated without the emergency services being able to reach the most affected areas.
In this regard, Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, told CNN that the storm is the “most devastating in Buffalo’s long history.”
«It’s like going to a war zone“, declared Hochul on Sunday night, December 25, when carrying out a report on the deaths and damage caused by the brutal winter storm.
Even the bodies of some people were found inside their vehicles or trapped under snowbanks. Other deaths occurred on the roads, which are quite dangerous due to frozen ground and poor visibility.
State emergency crews have been hard at work. And it is that, they have carried out almost 500 rescuesincluding helping to deliver a baby, according to what was expressed with the authorities on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, the National Meteorological Service stated that the snowpack at Buffalo-Niagara Airport it rose to 43 inches (109 cm) during Sunday morning.
The cause of death of the deceased has not been determined at this time. Additionally, Erie County spokesman Peter Anderson warned that “the number will continue to increase«.
On the morning of this Monday, December 26, the Poweroutage page, which is in charge of monitoring electrical service, reported that almost 30,000 subscribers in Maine did not have electricity, in the same way more than 13,000 lacked service in the state of New York.
More flights suspended for Monday
Since Thursday, the brutal winter storm It has spread across the US, from Washington state to Florida, with around 200 million people under warning, according to estimates by the National Weather Service.
Specifically, in Washington DC, the maximum temperature reached 22 degrees on Christmas Eve. This, according to NWS data, is the coldest maximum temperature on that day since 1989.
Western New York, meanwhile, is under a thick layer of “lake effect” snow, which forms when cold air moves over the warm waters of the Great Lakes.
During Sunday 25, more than 3,100 flights were canceled to, from, to and within US territory. Also, according to the FlighAware air traffic monitoring page, by early Monday morning another 1,321 more were suspended.
Similarly, for many travelers the nightmare continued at the airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit and New York.
In addition, ice on the roads led to the temporary closure of many of the country’s busiest routesincluding Interstate 70, which crosses much of the US from east to west.
More snow expected at the start of the week
However, things do not end there, since according to the forecast of the NWS, a period of dense snow is expected to persist through Monday night from the northern Plains through the Midwest. Where much of the eastern part of the country “will remain in a deep frost through Monday before a trend to moderate on Tuesday.”
Similarly, the lake effect snowfall they will continue to cause hazardous travel conditions for the next several days, although conditions are expected to slowly improve as we move through the last week of 2022.
The winter storm it resulted in usually warm Florida being felt near the lowest temperatures recorded in history.
One of the areas most affected by the cold in Florida is the city of Tampa, on the west coast, where data collected on Sunday by NWS recorded a minimum temperature of 31 degrees Fahrenheit (less than 0 degrees Celsius) at the International Airport.
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Fountain: Univision