US reels from aftermath of winter storm
Some residents were trapped on highways, unable to be rescued
The monster storm that killed dozens in the US over the Christmas weekend continued to inflict misery on New York state and air travellers nationwide on Tuesday, as stories emerged of families trapped for days during the “blizzard of the century.”
The number of deaths attributed to the winter storm rose to more than 50 after officials confirmed three more fatalities in western New York’s Erie County, the epicentre of the crisis.
Worse to come
The police department “expects that number to rise,” tweeted Byron Brown, mayor of the lakeside county’s biggest city Buffalo — which has been paralysed for five days by chest-deep snow banks and power outages.
As temperatures plummeted, commuters and some residents fleeing their freezing homes became trapped on highways, unable to be rescued.
The problem was compounded when some areas were rendered inaccessible to ambulances for dozens of hours and snowplows were unable to perform their job due to the ferocity of the storm — necessitating rescuers being rescued in certain cases.
The family of one 22-yearold Buffalo resident, Anndel Taylor, said she died in her car after getting stuck on her way home from work.
Emergency responders, who themselves became stuck attempting to rescue her, found her dead 18 hours later, possibly due to carbon monoxide poisoning, her family in North Carolina told a TV station.
In a city well-accustomed to snowstorms, some residents were blaming a travel ban they said was enacted too late on Friday morning as contributing to the mayhem.
The perfect storm of fierce snow squalls, howling wind and sub-zero temperatures forced the cancellation of almost 20,000 US flights in recent days, including some 3,200 on Tuesday, according to tracking site Flightaware.com.
Emergency fund
US President Joe Biden on Monday approved an emergency declaration for New York state, freeing up funds to help it recover from the disaster.
Buffalo’s international airport remained closed until yesterday morning and a driving ban remained in effect for the city.
Mayor Brown told CNN that multiple looting incidents were reported in the city over Christmas weekend and eight arrests had been made.
The National Weather Service forecast a respite of warmer temperatures around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) by the weekend, although officials warned that melting snow could result in minor flooding.