Winter storm Elliott – latest: Driving ban lifted in Buffalo as blizzard deaths hit 38
Buffalo region worst affected in US with at least 38 deaths after blizzard dumped 50 inches of snow on city
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Your support makes all the difference.One of the coldest Christmases in modern memory has left more than 60 people dead across the US, with 38 people killed in and around the city of Buffalo, which was hammered by over 50 inches of snow.
Nearly a week after the extreme blizzard, the driving ban in Buffalo was lifted on Thursday, although motorists have been advised to be careful around snow-removal equipment and at intersections.
“Hundreds of very large pieces of equipment will still be out clearing streets from curb-to-curb,” Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz warned in a tweet.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Poloncarz confirmed three additional deaths, marking the deadliest storm in western New York in at least two generations.
National Guard went door to door conducting welfare checks in neighbourhoods that lost electricity. As the city continues to dig out of the storm, the death toll is expected to climb further.
Beyond New York state, winter storm Elliott’s icy bite also saw temperatures plunge to record lows in parts of Montana, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming, and wrought havoc on Christmas travel plans.
Isolated reports of looting in Buffalo
Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County, said on Monday that police are investigating isolated reports of looting in the region.
“I’m heartbroken about the deaths, just absolutely devastated to see as many deaths. And then to find out that there’s looting going on in our community at the same time we’re still recovering bodies is just horrible,” Mr Poloncarz said.
ABC News reports that Daniel Neaverth, commissioner of the state Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said that more than a dozen gas stations in the county have been reported inoperable “because the convenience side of them has been looted and the equipment inside has been rendered ineffective and thus the pumps for the fueling are ineffective”.
Mr Neaverth said the looting was hampering emergency vehicles from fueling up.
“So if you don't think there's a trickle down from going looting and grabbing individual little things, this is a drastic implication for us that we now have to deal with to find alternate fuel sources,” he said.
In freezing weather, Texas governor sends buses of migrants to VP’s DC home
Texas Governor Greg Abbott appears to have celebrated Christmas this weekend by ensuring that three busloads of migrants would be left in the cold outside of Kamala Harris’s residence.
The Republican state leader has continued, along with Florida’s Ron DeSantis, to use confused migrants and lure them onto buses to take them to areas that will attract media attention under the promise of aid being provided once they arrive. In many if not all cases, the governors have had little to no contact with local authorities to manage the migrants’ arrival and to ensure they are not left out on the street in an unfamiliar town.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.
Texas governor drops off migrants outside Harris’s residence in freezing weather
Temperatures in the capital were well below freezing
More snow to come
The National Weather Service reports that lake effect snow will continue through Tuesday northeast of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Additional accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are expected off Lake Erie in and near Buffalo, and 1 to 2 feet for Jefferson and northern Lewis counties.
Hell literally froze over
A small town in Michigan called Hell, literally froze over when the “bomb cyclone” swept across the US over the Christmas weekend.
Hell freezes over during US bomb cyclone
Hell - a small town in Michigan - quite literally froze over after local temperatures dropped to -10C
Water crisis across South as pipes freeze and break
Days of freezing temperatures in Deep South areas that usually freeze for only hours are threatening dozens of water systems as burst pipes leak millions of gallons of water.
The problems were happening Monday in large, troubled water systems like Jackson, Mississippi, where residents were required over Christmas to boil water months after most lost service because of a cascade of problems from years of poor maintenance.
They also are happening in Shreveport, Louisiana, where some residents had no water Monday. In Selma, Alabama, the mayor declared a state of emergency because they city worried it would run out of water. Workers at a food bank in Greenville, South Carolina, opened their doors to a rush of water and were trying to save $1 million in food. Police departments around Atlanta said their 911 systems were being overwhelmed by unnecessary emergency calls about broken pipes.
Read on:
Deep freeze breaks pipes, creates water crisis across South
Days of freezing temperatures in Deep South areas that usually freeze for only hours are threatening dozens of water systems as burst pipes leak millions of gallons of water
Southwest Airlines cancels 60 percent of its flights on Monday
Southwest Airlines was the carrier hardest hit by weather-related travel chaos that saw many thousands of travellers stranded on Boxing Day.
The airline was forced to cancel more than 60 per cent of its flights on Monday, among the 5,480 flights that were cancelled across the US, according to the Flight Aware site.
Southwest apologised for the disruption in a statement on its website.
Aside from the icy blast from Winter Storm Elliott, the airline blamed unexpected fog in San Diego and staffing shortages at a fuel depot in Denver, according to CNBC.
Frustrated passengers posted videos of lengthy lines at airports across the US.
Air travel issues continue, but now in our area they’re largely related to one airline, Southwest. Video sent by a viewer of our sister station in Baltimore shows BWI Marshall, where Southwest has nearly 200 canceled flights today. 32 Southwest flights canceled at DCA, 10@ Dulles pic.twitter.com/tgurnJzwOX
— Tom Roussey (@tomroussey7news) December 26, 2022
The big warm up is on its way later this week
Freezing air will continue to dominate the eastern half of the US for the early part of the week, but a big warm-up is predicted from Wednesday onwards. By New Year’s Eve, temperatures will likely be above average for the vast majority of the continental US.
ICYMI: Buffalo Bills players find cars under feet of snow
Players for the Buffalo Bills returned to the storm-hit city after playing in Chicago on Saturday to find their cars under heavy snow.
Japan also struggling with heavy snowfall and death toll
It’s not just North America struggling with severe winter weather.
Heavy snow in large swaths of Japan has killed 17 and injured more than 90 people and left hundreds of homes without power, disaster management officials said Monday.
Powerful winter fronts have dumped heavy snow in northern regions since last week, stranding hundreds of vehicles on highways, delaying delivery services and causing 11 deaths by Saturday. More snowfall over the Christmas weekend brought the number of dead to 17 and injured to 93 by Monday morning, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Many of them had fallen while removing snow from the roofs or were buried underneath thick piles of snow sliding off rooftops.
Read more:
Heavy snow in Japan leaves 17 dead, dozens injured
Large swaths of Japan are seeing heavy snow since last week, killing 17 and leaving hundreds of homes without power
Missing Minnesota Man found dead
A 20-year-old man has been found dead after going missing in Minnesota.
The search for George Musser ended on Christmas Day at around 7pm after his body was found in Baytown Township.
“George’s family has been notified. There is no other information at this time as this case is still under investigation,” police said on Sunday.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Man who vanished in frigid Minnesota is found dead after massive Christmas Day search
‘He told us he had to go to the bathroom and then he never returned’
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