A loader clears roadways on December 24, 2022 in Hamburg, Recent York. The Buffalo suburb and surrounding area was hit hard by Winter’s Elliott Storm with wind gusts in excess of 70 miles per hour hitting homes and businesses throughout the holiday weekend. (Photo: John Normile/Getty Images)
John Normile | Getty Images | News Getty Images
AND blizzard “only in life.” killed at least 57 people in the United States, including 27 in Erie County in western Recent York, authorities said on Monday.
The death toll from the monstrous storm was expected to rise as snow continues to blanket Erie County, leaving roads impassable in many areas, including most of Buffalo, county director Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference.
“We see a light-weight at the end of the tunnel, however it’s not over yet” – said Poloncarz. “We’re not there.”
Snow was expected to fall in Erie County by Tuesday afternoon. Across the country, temperatures plummeted and huge snowdrifts appeared crazy trip and imprisoned people in their houses.
The storm stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the Mexican border killed at least 57 people, according to NBC News. Deaths were reported in 12 states: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Recent York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
The Erie County Bureau of Forensics determined that 27 of the deaths were directly related to the blizzard, Poloncarz said.
He said many died of heart problems while shoveling or shoveling snow. Others were found dead in their cars. At least one person in Niagara County has died from carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
At least 18 people have died in Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown said Monday afternoon.
A few of these deaths should not included in Erie County’s official statistics, Poloncarz said, adding that the county is working to confirm them.
The ferocity of the storm was unlike any the region had seen, Poloncarz said. The snow fell “with a vengeance,” he said.
“It is a generational storm,” he said, and the county has yet to begin assessing the “full variety of casualties.”
![Airlines cancel thousands of flights as a massive winter storm sweeps across the United States](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107170740-16717967021671796700-27317171075-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1671797730&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
On Monday morning, a “heavy lake-effect band of snow” in the Buffalo area produced 2 to 3 inches of hourly snowfall, with accumulations as high as 6 to 12 inches and as high as 1 to 2 feet in Jefferson and northern Lewis counties, the National Weather Service said in his newsletter at 6:43 am.
The “lake effect” occurs when cold air flows over unfrozen and warmer lake water, transferring moisture and heat to the lower atmosphere. The air then rises to form clouds, resulting in heavy snow.
“We all know the storm is coming back,” Recent York Governor Kathy Hochul said Monday afternoon, calling the blizzard “the just one for the ages.”
hochul tweeted that she spoke with President Joe Biden and that he “promised to quickly approve” a request for a federal disaster declaration. The White House reiterated this, saying Biden had offered “the full strength of the federal government to support Recent Yorkers as the state grapples with the effects of a historic winter storm.”
Brown said that in Buffalo, blinding snowstorms and freezing rain left greater than 20,000 customers without power at one point. By Monday afternoon, that number had dropped to lower than 10,000.
Hundreds of service crew members were dispatched to the rescue in what was possibly “the largest mobilization of utility crews in state history,” Hochul said.
The storm that hit Buffalo, with strong winds and snow, was likened to the famous 1977 blizzard that lasted three days.
“It was two days of terrible conditions, but the ferocity of the storm was worse than the 1977 blizzard,” Poloncarz said on Monday.
The 1977 storm was dubbed “Blizzard That Buried Buffalo”. 29 people died, most of them trapped in their vehicles North-East Regional Climate Center.
Over 49 inches of snow, or over 4 feet, fell at Buffalo Airport The National Weather Service announced on Monday. Power substations were frozen and covered with snowdrifts in places, Poloncarz reported.
Temperatures have dropped below normal from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains. By early Monday, greater than 1,200 flights had been canceled and at least 500 were delayed. according to tracking site FlightAwaretrapping holiday tourists at airports across the country.
![A severe storm bringing heavy snowfall, deep freezes across the United States during heavy vacation travel](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107170205-16717139761671713973-27299519662-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1671714121&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
The National Weather Service said “hazardous travel conditions” would proceed over the next few days and would slowly ease off into the latest yr.
“Much of the eastern US will remain in a deep freeze until Monday before an easing trend emerges on Tuesday,” he said at 2:56 a.m. bulletin.
“Life-threatening low temperatures and combined with dangerous wind chills will create a potentially life-threatening threat to stranded travelers, outdoor staff, livestock and pets,” the National Weather Service said.
Western parts of the country were also bracing for the coming storm, with forecasters warning on Tuesday of a “strong surge of moisture” to the Pacific Northwest and California, threatening flash flooding.
weather service tweeted that cold and snow will change into “distant memories” for Chicago as temperatures are expected to rise during the week and heavy rains are expected.