The winter storm continued to lash across Western New York, especially in the Buffalo area, leaving the city a war zone. Over 28 people died in the region, leaving it one of the worst weather-related disasters ever to hit western New York.
"This is a war with mother nature and she has been hitting us with everything she has since Thursday," New York state governor Kathy Hochul was quoted by BBC. "It is [like] going to a war zone, and the vehicles along the sides of the roads are shocking," she added.
She added that residents were facing a "life-threatening situation" as many emergency vehicles were unable to reach worst-hit areas.
Of the 28 deaths reported so far, some were due to exposure and other due to natural causes after emergency services were unable to reach them. The number, authorities fear, will rise.
Some people were stranded in their cars for more than two days. One family with two children waited for 11 hours before being rescued on Sunday. "I was basically just hopeless," the father, Zila Santiago told CBS News. Santiago added that he managed to keep warm by keeping the engine running.
Melissa Carrick, a doula, told AP that the blizzard forced her to coach a pregnant client through childbirth by telephone. An ambulance crew transported the woman to a hospital about 45 minutes south of Buffalo because none of the closer hospitals was reachable.
"In any other normal Buffalo storm? I would just go because that's what you do just drive through the snow," she said. "But you knew this was different."
The situation remains hard inside homes too with power outages continuing in some areas. Reports said some residents remained in their homes for more than two days in the freezing cold.
The situation is likely to continue on Tuesday too. As per the National Weather Service, up to 9 more inches of snow (23 centimetres) could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday. "This is not the end yet," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, calling the blizzard "the worst storm probably in our lifetime," even for an area accustomed to punishing snow.
Officials expect between 8 and 12 more inches of snow to fall between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon.
While hundreds of National Guard troops have been deployed to help with rescue efforts in New York, state police had been involved in over 500 rescues by Sunday, including delivering a baby.
Not just the New York region, but the rest of the United States too was reeling from the ferocious winter storm. Over 20 deaths were reported from other parts of the country, taking the total toll to over 50.
Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Colorado also reported storm-related deaths and the western state of Montana was the worst hit by the cold, with temperatures dropping to -50F (-45C).
Climate change
As the winter storm continues to pummel the US, scientists believe the climate change crisis may have contributed to the intensity of the storm. "That's because the atmosphere can carry more water vapour, which acts as fuel, Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told AP
However, the temperature is expected to rise in the coming weeks if forecasts by the National Weather Service are to be believed.
Power outages, flight cancellations
Flights continued to be cancelled on Monday too with over 3,410 domestic and international flights cancelled Monday, according to the tracking site FlightAware. Southwest Airlines called of 2,497 flights, about 60% of its scheduled flights and about 10 times as many as any other major US carrier.
Southwest said the weather was improving, which would "stabilize and improve our situation". Based on FlightAware data, airports all across the US were suffering from cancellations and delays, including Denver, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Seattle, Baltimore and Chicago.
About 25,700 customers were without power Monday evening in New York and Maine, according to PowerOutage.US.
