How Erie County Emergency Crews fought through the snow and power outages during a high-availability blizzard on Saturday
BUFFALO, N.Y. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 18 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
In Erie County there were two deaths that could not have been avoided because emergency responders couldn’t get to them in time.
A single hospital trip could take more than three hours, as the Erie County executive said that the storm may be the worst in the area’s history.
Emergency workers were still rescuing people from cars as darkness fell on Saturday — some of them trapped since Friday. As the snow continued to fall, some residents were prepared to stay at home without power, so they would have no other choice than to seek shelter elsewhere.
Freezing conditions and day-old power outages had Buffalonians scrambling Saturday to get out of their homes to anywhere that had heat. But with city streets under a thick blanket of white, that wasn’t an option for people like Jeremy Manahan, who charged his phone in his parked car after almost 29 hours without electricity.
The struggle was complicated by drivers ignoring travel bans because they became stuck or stranded.
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People were asked to stay put and the National Guard was asked to assist with rescue operations. Kathy Hochul, the Gov. of New York said that the airport is closed until Monday.
“Everyone is like, ‘Oh, you’re from Buffalo, you’re used to this,’” said Tommy Bellonte, 37, who briefly emerged from his Buffalo home Saturday morning to check on a neighbor. You cannot get used to it.
The storm knocked out power in communities from Maine to Seattle, and a major electricity grid operator warned 65 million people across the eastern U.S. of possible rolling blackouts.
Temperatures plunged into the single digits in central, southern and eastern states as the massive weather system swept north into Canada and frigid Arctic air settled in behind it. The cold set records for Christmas Eve in some places across the country, including in Baltimore, where the temperature plummeted to 8 degrees, and in Bluefield, W.Va., where it bottomed out at minus 9.
In the aftermath of the storm surge, some people in New York City were worried about leaving their homes for Christmas.
Four people are dead in a pileup of 50 vehicles on the Ohio Turnpike, four others are dead in crashes in Missouri and Kansas and a woman is struck by a falling branch.
As the cold tightened its grip, cities and towns opened warming shelters in fire stations and school gymnasiums, and residents sought shelter, some after spending Friday night in unheated homes, huddled under blankets and clustered around fireplaces in the dark.
After a day without power, Shantel Moncrief and her husband attempted to sleep in their apartment in south Nashville on Friday night layered in sweaters and blankets. They had to move to her mother’s house at 6 a.m. after being too cold to rest.
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Nearly 8,000 U.S. flights were disrupted on Saturday because of the storm, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight data. And many with plans to travel by car were thwarted by icy roads, highway closures and travel bans.
At La Guardia Airport in New York, more than 50 flights were canceled Saturday morning, and travelers prepared to spend Christmas Eve at the airport or in nearby hotels.
The Ellis family checked in at the airport at 3 a.m with their teenage children. Hours later, their flight was canceled, and each member of the family was rebooked on a different flight, said Mr. Ellis.
The family decided to rent a car instead and drive 14 hours to their home in Nashville. The cost would be hefty, Mr. Ellis said, but he did not mind paying it.
As darkness fell in Western New York on Saturday and temperatures crept even lower, thousands of utility workers and plow drivers faced another long night of work to restore power and clear roads. With snow forecast to continue, and travel bans still in effect, stores were empty of last-minute shoppers, and streets mostly silent.
Frank Anderson, who worked as a prison guard, was stuck in the snow for the second time in three days on Saturday, in his large white pickup truck.
His truck was stuck along Hertel Avenue, with the tires spinning on ice as he tried to get back to his wife and three children. In the suburb of Tonawanda, he was a mile from home.
“I’m going to miss Christmas with my people,” he said, the truck and heat still running as he sat inside in the middle of the unplowed road packed with feet of snow.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/24/us/winter-storm-snow-weather/con-edison-asks-new-york-city-customers-to-conserve-energy
Millions in the U-S are hunkering down from a freezing and deadly-deadly-christmas-stor
Sharon Dunten, April Rubin, Robert Chiarito, and Euan Ward contributed to the report.
According to forecasters, when atmospheric pressure plummets very quickly in a strong storm, it can make for great conditions, such as storms with winds of more than 100 mph, and snowy conditions.
There is only one warming shelter, but that is too far to get to. I can’t drive, obviously, because I’m stuck,” Manahan said. “And you can’t be outside for more than 10 minutes without getting frostbit.”
We can’t just pick up all of them and take them to a warming center. We don’t have the capability of doing that,” Poloncarz said. In the city of Buffalo, many neighborhoods are still not accessible.
There was a family that was on their way to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario when their SUV was trapped in Buffalo. Unable to get help, they spent hours with the engine running in the vehicle buffeted by wind and nearly buried in snow.
With their fuel nearly gone, Ilunga chose to risk the storm to get to a shelter. He carried 6-year-old Destiny on his back while 16-year-old Cindy clutched their Pomeranian puppy, stepping into his footprints as they trudged through drifts.
“If I stay in this car I’m going to die for my kids and I have to try,” he thought, but he had to try. The family came through the shelter doors and he cried. I will never forget it in my life.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/25/1145468209/millions-in-the-u-s-are-hunkering-down-from-a-freezing-and-deadly-christmas-stor
“It’s going to be a different Christmas for everyone,” says Terry and Rick Robinson of Erie County, North Carolina, on Saturday
More than a quarter of a million people in North Carolina were without power on Saturday. Utility officials said rolling blackouts would continue for the next few days.
In Mexico, migrants camped near the U.S. border were facing unusually cold temperatures as they awaited a U.S. Supreme Court decision on pandemic-era restrictions preventing many from seeking asylum.
Terry and Rick Henderson spent 34 hours in a car with a diesel heater, toilets, and a fridge in Kentucky after getting stuck in traffic while trying to get from Alabama to Ohio for Christmas.
Poloncarz of Erie County tweeted late Saturday that 34.6 inches (about 88 centimeters) of snow had accumulated at the Buffalo Airport and drifts were well over 6 feet (1.8 meters) in some areas. Blizzard conditions were expected to ease early Sunday, he continued, but continuing lake effect snow was forecast.
The Robinsons have been feeding over 60 people at their church, including travelers stranded in Buffalo and locals without power or heat.
Many arrived with ice and snow plastered to their clothes, crying, their skin reddened by the single-digit temperatures. They were going to spend Christmas together.
Robinson said that it was emotional to see the hurt they were feeling, and to see that the church had been opened and that there was a sense of relief. The people who are here are enjoying themselves. It’s going to be a different Christmas for everyone.”