The “blizzard of the century”, according to the expression of the governor of the State of New York, Kathy Hochul, has caused more than sixty deaths in the United States. By Tuesday, Dec. 27, snow had stopped falling in Buffalo, in the northwest of the state, the epicenter of winter storm Elliott that made Christmas a nightmare weekend for millions of Americans.
However, traffic continued to be prohibited in this city of 280,000 inhabitants whose streets were buried under nearly two meters of snow. The firefighters were trying to clear the immobilized cars – several hundred – and the trees felled under the effect of particularly violent winds. The authorities have called on the National Guard to enforce the travel ban decreed in order to facilitate relief operations and the restoration of electricity.
The death toll in Erie County, including Buffalo, rose to 31 on Tuesday, half the number of victims nationwide. A figure higher than the results of the blizzard of 1977 (twenty-nine deaths), remembered in this region near Niagara Falls, where the winter is particularly harsh. The blizzard also exceeded that of 1977 in wind strength, snowfall intensity (thirty-seven hours without stopping) and lack of visibility. The gusts reached 120 km/h. The international airport received 1.2 meters of snow in a day and a half, three times more than in 1977. It had still not reopened on Wednesday December 28.
Rescuers fear the toll will rise as they go through the 420 calls to emergency services that went unanswered, with firefighters themselves stranded by the blizzard. “Rescuers had to come to the aid of other rescuers”Buffalo Deputy Mayor Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney told CNN. the Washington Post cited the testimony of a nurse who herself was stuck in her ambulance for fourteen hours, without water or food. “Unfortunately we continue to find bodies in the streets and in the snowdrifts”County Executive Officer Mark Poloncarz told CNN.
Many gestures of solidarity
On Tuesday, three new victims were found in Erie County, including a man poisoned with carbon dioxide when snow covered the vent of his stove. Anndel Taylor, a 22-year-old nursing assistant, died in her car, trapped by snow, as she drove home to North Carolina, according to her family. Until the last minute, she was able to send videos to her relatives, showing the progress of the snow around her vehicle. According to her sister, Tomeshia Brown, the young woman did not freeze to death – she was not even wearing her coat – but asphyxiated. His body was not found until the following day.
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