Extreme cold snap hits US over Christmas weekend – at least 50 dead

Buffalo

Downtown Buffalo: A town is engulfed in snow.

(Photo: AP)

Washington Zila Santiago was stuck in the car with his four young children for eleven hours on Christmas Eve while a snowstorm raged outside. Desperate, the 30-year-old dialed 911, as reported by the New York Times, but no one came to help. Rescue workers in the city of Buffalo, New York, got stuck themselves.

Meters of snow, freezing temperatures and hurricane-force winds made for life-threatening conditions on the streets – the district had imposed a driving ban on citizens. Zila Santiago was lucky: around 5:00 a.m. the family was rescued with the help of a snow plough.

Dramatic scenes like this were not uncommon in the Great Lakes region of the Northeastern United States and border with Canada over Christmas weekend. A violent winter storm swept across the United States, wreaking havoc across much of the country and killing dozens. Temperatures were in the double-digit minus range in many regions.

The arctic storm “Elliott” brought many people a Christmas under extreme conditions. In the hard-hit Buffalo region on the shores of Lake Erie, the death toll rose to twelve on Sunday, according to officials. The oldest victim was 93 years old, the youngest 26. The dead were discovered in their homes and on the streets, said Erie County District Manager Mark Poloncarz. US President Joe Biden has offered federal aid to New York State. Biden said on Monday (local time) that he was with his prayers with the families of the victims.

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At least 50 people have died in the United States in the past few days. In the district of Erie County in the state of New York alone, 27 people died, as Marc Poloncarz, the district manager, announced on Twitter on Monday (local time). Nationwide, more than 51 people died in connection with Arctic winter storm Elliott, ABC reported. The broadcaster NBC even put the death toll at 56.

Amherst

A resident removes snow from a building in Amherst, Massachusetts.

(Photo: dpa)

On Saturday, rescue workers helped with the birth of a child over the phone, wrote the New York Times. In hundreds of cases, people in need have been rescued.

Heavy snowfalls and hurricane-force winds also caused so-called whiteout conditions on the roads in the Midwest, where drivers can lose their orientation due to the extremely limited visibility. TV images showed streets covered with a thick layer of ice. Cars and trucks slid across the road, crashed into each other or left the road.

Aerial view with a drone

Snow covers a neighborhood in Cheektowaga, a city in Erie County, in upstate New York.

(Photo: dpa)

Hundreds of thousands of households were affected by power outages over the weekend. On Saturday there were sometimes even more than 1.6 million, as the website “PowerOutage” showed.

The Arctic cold front also messed up the Christmas plans of many travelers: According to the flight data website “FlightAware”, more than 10,000 flights were canceled from Friday to Sunday. Chaos reigned at many airports, and some were temporarily closed.

new York

Icicles hang from the fountain in Bryant Park in New York City in freezing temperatures.

(Photo: dpa)

The effects of the cold spell were felt as far south as the United States. The situation became serious given the drop in temperatures for migrants on the border with Mexico, many of whom are currently camping on the streets of border towns.

Many of them are waiting for a controversial deportation regulation to be lifted, which allows for quick deportation with reference to the corona pandemic. It was actually supposed to expire last week. The US government had asked the US Supreme Court for a delay until after Christmas.

Most recently, the storm calmed down somewhat in most states. According to the US weather service, the center of the cold front shifted north, to eastern Canada.

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