More than 60 victims of the winter storm: “People die in their cars”
About 60 people have died in the wake of winter storm Elliott in North America. In Buffalo, New York, people have been found dead and snowed in their cars as the snow depth approaches 1.5 meters. The city’s mayor, Byron W. Brown, is now appealing to residents not to hit the roads.
- People die in their cars. That’s the reality, Byron W. Brown told local radio station WBEN.
So far, at least 60 people have died due to the severe storm in the United States, and authorities fear that the death toll will rise, reports Reuters. In the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, two people died of medical complications after emergency services were unable to arrive due to the storm.
- Some have been found dead in cars, others in snowdrifts out on the street says Mark Poloncarz, majority leader in Eire County where Buffalo is located.
- We know that there are those who have been snowbound in their cars for more than two days.
“Will go down in history”
The storm named Elliot stretches from the southern parts of Ontario in Canada to the Mexican border. One of the hardest hit areas is the city of Buffalo in New York where seven people are said to have died as a result of the weather. Several of the dead have been found frozen to death in cars or in snowbanks.
“This will go down in history as Buffalo’s most devastating storm,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Sunday.
Emergency vehicles do not arrive
At least three of the deaths in New York must have occurred due to medical emergencies where emergency services could not arrive due to the storm, reports The New York Times. The masses of snow have made roads impassable and rescue personnel have also been stuck when they went out on an alarm.
- We’ve had to save firefighters, we’ve had to save police and we’ve had to save ambulance personnel, says Mark C. Poloncarz, New York county manager to The New York Times.
1.5 meters of snow
During Sunday, Buffalo was still affected by heavy snowfall and strong winds, the amount of snow is expected to measure around 1.5 meters during Sunday evening. Although conditions appear to be easing somewhat, civil servants and health workers have been called in from vacations to support colleagues who have been working non-stop since the storm’s arrival three days ago.
- This is not the Christmas we wanted, says Mark C. Poloncarz.
More than 150,000 US homes and businesses were still without power on Sunday, down from the 1.8 million reported early Saturday, according to Reuters.
Source: Reuters
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