(Buffalo) As the United States hopes to be over soon with the “blizzard of the century”, which has claimed at least 50 lives across the country, the stories of terrified families stranded by the storm or people dying in their cars were multiplying on Tuesday.
The extreme cold that has hit the United States for several days has been accompanied by heavy snowfall and strong winds, particularly in the Great Lakes region, causing chaos in road and air transport and forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights around Christmas.
In several airports, the same scenes: hundreds of people queuing after the cancellation of their trip and piled up luggage.
The inclement weather, described as “once in a generation,” is expected to start easing over the East and Midwest on Tuesday.
But they killed at least 50 people, including 31 in Erie County alone, which includes the city of Buffalo, New York. A higher toll is to be feared, according to the authorities, as relief progresses and clears.
PHOTO BRIDGET HASLINGER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The city of Buffalo, Erie County, is still largely in lockdown due to massive amounts of snowfall.
“We are recovering from one of the worst storms we have ever seen, unfortunately with the highest death toll we have ever had in a storm,” Erie County official Mark Poloncarz said on Tuesday. of a press conference. “We will never forget it,” he added.
Western New York State, although accustomed to harsh winters, suffered particularly, after being buried under meters of snow, suffering from polar temperatures.
rescuers stranded
In Buffalo, a 22-year-old woman trapped in snow died in her car, according to her family. A video sent by the victim and posted by his sister shows him rolling down the window of his vehicle, surrounded by snow during the blizzard.
Buffalo resident Mark Eguliar told AFP he was stuck at work “for more than 40 hours”.
“I’ve been in Buffalo since 1970 […] and it’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen in Buffalo,” said Joe Mergl, another resident of this large city near the border with Canada.
PHOTO JOED VIERA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A military Humvee moves through the snowy streets of Buffalo.
Buffalo Deputy Mayor Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney told CNN on Tuesday that “rescuers flew to the aid of other rescuers.”
“It was necessary to first help the relief workers so that they could go and help the population,” she explained.
Precisely, some wondered about the city’s response to the announced storm, wondering if the ban on driving should not have been decreed earlier.
“There was a lot of snow, cars were stuck and people were still trying to drive,” Buffalo resident Chris Ortiz told AFP.
An employee of the emergency services quoted by the washington postherself stuck in her ambulance for 14 hours without food or water, said “most (emergency) calls came from people trapped in their cars”.
“The truth is, those people in stuck vehicles shouldn’t have been there,” the employee said.
PHOTO JOSEPH COOKE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Buffalo resident struggles to clear snow from his driveway.
Dangerous conditions
This driving ban remained in effect Tuesday for the city of Buffalo, tweeted Mark Poloncarz, the local official.
“You are hampering clearing efforts” by traveling to Buffalo, he told reporters on Tuesday, warning that conditions remained dangerous.
City police also announced the arrest of eight individuals by its anti-looting force set up with the storm.
“These are not people stealing food, medicine, or baby diapers,” Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia said. “They destroy shops, steal televisions, sofas, anything they can get their hands on,” he added.
On Monday, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said, “This is clearly the blizzard of the century.”
Even if the intensity of the storm is no longer that of recent days, it is “still dangerous to be outside”, she warned.
The US Weather Service (NWS) has warned of “locally dangerous traffic conditions”.
The total number of deaths confirmed by authorities across nine US states so far is at least 50 dead.