Buffalo: A battering winter storm knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the United States on Saturday, left millions more to worry about the prospect of further outages and crippled emergency response efforts and an airport in snowbound New York state.
Across the country, officials have attributed at least 18 deaths to exposure, icy car crashes and other effects of the storm, including two people who died in their homes outside Buffalo, New York, when emergency crews couldn’t reach them amid historic blizzard conditions.
Deep snow, single-digit temperatures and day-old power outages sent Buffalo residents scrambling Saturday to get out of their houses to anywhere that had heat. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the Buffalo Niagara International Airport will be closed through Monday morning and almost every fire truck in Buffalo was stranded in the snow.
“No matter how many emergency vehicles we have, they cannot get through the conditions as we speak,” Hochul said.
Massive Winter Storm Death Toll Rises
Two people died in, Buffalo, their homes on Friday when emergency crews could not reach them in time to treat their medical conditions, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. He said another person died in Buffalo and said the blizzard may be “the worst storm in our community’s history.”
On the Ohio Turnpike, four died in a massive pileup involving some 50 vehicles. A Kansas City, Missouri, driver was killed Thursday after skidding into a creek, and three others died Wednesday in separate crashes on icy northern Kansas roads.
Millions Grapple With Power Cuts
Pennsylvania-based PJM Interconnection said power plants are having difficulty operating in the frigid weather and has asked residents in 13 states to refrain from unnecessary electricity use through at least Christmas morning.
Blinding blizzards, freezing rain and frigid cold also knocked out power from Maine to Seattle, while a major electricity grid operator warned the 65 million people it serves across the eastern U.S. that rolling blackouts might be required.
Across the six New England states, more than 273,000 electric customers remained without power on Saturday, with Maine the hardest hit and some utilities saying it could be days before electricity is restored.
Weather Warnings Continue
A blizzard warning was in effect until the middle of Christmas Day in western Montana along the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.
The National Weather Service warned that the eastern slope of Glacier National Park and the adjacent foothills and plains could see up to 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) of snow and winds up to 90 mph (145 kilometers per hour). The weather service advised traveling only in emergencies.
“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” its warning said. “Widespread blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility, while drifting snow could lead to complete lane blockages.”
Snarling Christmas Travel
Freezing rain, ice and snowy conditions complicated road and air travel in Washington state.
Over 2,360 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Saturday, according to the tracking site FlightAware.
Forecasters said a bomb cyclone— when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm — had developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow.
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