At least 50 people have died in the past few days in extreme cold and heavy snowfall in the United States. At least 27 people died in Erie County, New York state alone, according to district official Marc Poloncarz on Twitter. However, the authorities expected more victims to be buried under the masses of snow on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we’re still recovering dead people,” said the chief of police in the hardest-hit city of Buffalo, in western New York state, on CNN.
Nationwide, more than 51 people died in connection with Arctic winter storm Elliott, ABC reported. The broadcaster CNBC even put the number of fatalities at 57. “Elliott” had brought meter-high snow, temperatures in the double-digit minus range and hurricane-force winds to large parts of the USA over the Christmas weekend. The region around the Great Lakes in the north-east of the USA and on the border with Canada was particularly affected. Hundreds of thousands of homes were affected by power outages.
“My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones this holiday weekend,” President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter. New York Governor Kathy Hochul spoke of a “historic snowstorm”. The US weather service warned for Tuesday morning (local time) with further snowfall coming from Lake Erie over Erie County and adjacent counties.
Thousands of flights canceled
In addition, there would be gusts of wind with speeds of up to almost 50 kilometers per hour. This can lead to so-called whiteouts, in which drivers are completely surrounded by snow flurries and can lose their orientation. For some districts on the east shore of Lake Erie, which is one of the so-called Great Lakes, a driving ban was still in place on Tuesday.
The New York Department of Transportation tweeted images of snow removal vehicles fighting their way through the snow on icy roads and of trucks and cars going off the road in the snow and getting stuck in the deep snow. Governor Hochul had already declared a state of emergency for the state of New York last week. President Biden assured the state of federal support on Tuesday night.
The Arctic cold front also messed up the Christmas plans of many travelers: According to the flight data website “FlightAware”, more than 10,000 flights were canceled from Friday to Sunday. For the coming days, the weather service predicted milder temperatures for the central west and east of the country.
