In this drone image, snow blankets a neighborhood, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022, in Cheektowaga, N.Y. Millions of people hunkered down against a deep freeze Sunday morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 24 people across the United States and is expected to claim more lives after trapping some residents inside houses with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
A car sits blanketed in snow on a driveway, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022, in Amherst, N.Y. Millions of people hunkered down against a deep freeze Sunday morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 24 people across the United States and is expected to claim more lives after trapping some residents inside houses with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. early Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
A lone pedestrian in snow shoes makes his way across Colonial Circle as St. John's Grace Episcopal Church rises above the blowing snow amid blizzard conditions in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.
A winter storm rolls through Western New York Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Amherst N.Y. A battering winter storm has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes homes and businesses across the United States on Saturday. It left millions more to worry about the prospect of further outages and crippled police and fire departments.
A giant tree lays across the intersection of West Delavan Avenue and Bidwell Parkway in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.
A person clears snow as a winter storm rolls through Western New York Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Amherst N.Y. A battering winter storm has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes homes and businesses across the United States on Saturday. It left millions more to worry about the prospect of further outages and crippled police and fire departments.
Pedestrians walk along West Argyle Street in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Temperatures climbed up to 14 degrees Saturday afternoon, after Chicago was below zero for 29 hours, according to the National Weather Service.
This satellite image made available by NOAA shows weather systems across North America on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, at 12:06 p.m. EST. 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 police, fire departments and an airport in snow-blown New York state.
The fountain is frozen as temperatures hovered in the mid 20's at Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home in New Orleans, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Millions of Americans are facing blinding blizzards, freezing rain, flooding and life-threatening cold through Christmas as a winter storm of unprecedented scope smashes its frigid way through most of the country.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) and tackle Spencer Brown (79) exhale before a successful two-point attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.
A winter storm rolls through Western New York Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Amherst N.Y. A battering winter storm has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes homes and businesses across the United States on Saturday. It left millions more to worry about the prospect of further outages and crippled police and fire departments.
Icicles cling to strawberry plants at a field Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Plant City, Fla. Farmers spray their crops with sprinklers to help protect them from the damaging freeze. Temperatures overnight in the area dipped into the mid-20's.
A person walks on the street as a winter storm rolls through Western New York Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Amherst N.Y. A battering winter storm has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes homes and businesses across the United States on Saturday. It left millions more to worry about the prospect of further outages and crippled police and fire departments.
Football fans watch pregame warmups before an NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns and the New Orleans , Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Cleveland.
Three men walk down Richmond Avenue in whiteout conditions during a sustained blizzard in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.
Brian Dickie, dressed as Santa Claus, rides his bike through the wintery streets of Carleton Place, Ontario, Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. A major winter storm system continues to affect eastern Ontario.
More than 800 runners dressed as Santa Claus braved near freezing temperatures to participate in the Run Run Santa 1 Mile Saturday Dec. 24, 2022 in Viera, Fla. The temperatures were in the low 30's and the coldest in the race's 7-year history.
Icicles hang from ornamental plants at sunrise Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Plant City, Fla. Farmers spray their crops with sprinklers to help protect them. Temperatures overnight dipped into the mid-20's.
A farmer drives by an icicle covered fence as he checks on his ornamental plants before sunrise Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in Plant City, Fla. Farmers spray their crops with sprinklers to help protect them. Temperatures overnight dipped into the mid-20's.
Gamaliel Vega tries to dig out his car on Lafayette Avenue after he got stuck in a snowdrift about a block from home while trying to help rescue his cousin, who had lost power and heat with a baby at home across town during a blizzard in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.
Snow drifts over the sidewalk on West Delavan Avenue in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.
A person walks through the Central Experimental Farm during strong winds and snow squalls in Ottawa, Canada, on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Environment Canada has issued a winter storm warning for the region.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. early Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. early Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
High winds and snow covers the streets and vehicles in Buffalo, N.Y. early Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. Millions of people hunkered down in a deep freeze overnight and early morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 20 people across the United States, trapping some residents inside homes with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several hundred thousand homes and businesses.
People ice skate on Christmas Day at Central Park on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022, in New York.
This photo provided by the Twitter page of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, snow from this weekends blizzard covers downtown Buffalo on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. The blizzard roared through western New York Friday and Saturday, stranding motorists, knocking out power and preventing emergency crews from reaching residents in frigid homes and stuck cars.
Christian Parker of Buffalo, N.Y., shovels out his car in the Elmwood Village neighborhood of Buffalo, N.Y. Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, after a massive snow storm blanketed the city. Along with drifts and travel bans, many streets were impassible due to abandoned vehicles.
Joseph McVay, left, and Sarah Guglielmi who live nearby, walk along a street in the Elmwood Village neighborhood of Buffalo, N.Y. Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, after a massive snow storm blanketed the city. Along with drifts and travel bans, many streets were impassible due to abandoned vehicles.
Kala Smith of Buffalo, N.Y., heads for a food store on Main St., not far from where she lives Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, after a massive snow storm blanketed the city. Along with drifts and travel bans, many streets were impassible due to abandoned vehicles.
People walk from a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y. Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, after a massive snow storm blanketed the city. Along with drifts and travel bans, many streets were impassible due to abandoned vehicles.
People move about the streets of the Elmwood Village neighborhood of Buffalo, N.Y. Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, after a massive snow storm blanketed the city. Along with drifts and travel bans, many streets were impassible due to abandoned vehicles.
Daniel Shafer of Buffalo, N.Y., walks along a path in the street in the Elmwood Village neighborhood of Buffalo, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, after a massive snow storm blanketed the city. Along with drifts and travel bans, many streets were impassible due to abandoned vehicles.
Tommy Roetzer digs out his driveway on West Delavan Street in Buffalo, N.Y., on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.
A group of neighbors gather around a fire pit on Culver Road after clearing snow in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. The region is digging out from a pre-Christmas blizzard that delivered hurricane-force winds and more than 4 feet of snow.
Passengers check in for flights at Vancouver International Airport after operations returned to normal after last week's snowstorm in Richmond, British Columbia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.
Neighbors help push a motorist stuck in the snow in Buffalo, N.Y., on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.
Workers use heavy equipment to clear snow from Richmond Avenue in Buffalo, N.Y., on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.
Ben James, of Guilford, skates around the Retreat Meadows, in Brattleboro, Vt., on a pair of speed skates on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo residents hovered around space heaters, hunted for cars buried in snow drifts and looked for more victims Monday, after 28 people died in one of the worst weather-related disasters ever to hit western New York.
The rest of the United States also was reeling from the ferocious winter storm, with at least another two dozen deaths reported in other parts of the country.
Up to 9 more inches of snow (23 centimeters) could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
“This is not the end yet,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, calling the blizzard “the worst storm probably in our lifetime,” even for an area accustomed to punishing snow.
Some people, he noted, were stranded in their cars for more than two days.
President Joe Biden said his prayers were with the victims’ families, and offered federal assistance Monday to the hard-hit state.
Those who lost their lives around Buffalo were found in cars, homes and snowbanks. Some died while shoveling snow, others when emergency crews could not respond in time to medical crises.
Melissa Carrick, a doula, said the blizzard forced her to coach a pregnant client through childbirth by telephone. An ambulance crew transported the woman to a hospital about 45 minutes south of Buffalo because none of the closer hospitals were reachable.
“In any other normal Buffalo storm? I would just go because that’s what you do – just drive through the snow,” she said. “But you knew this was different.”
Scientists say the climate change crisis may have contributed to the intensity of the storm. That’s because the atmosphere can carry more water vapor, which acts as fuel, said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Victor Gensini, a meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University, likened a single weather event to an “at-bat” — and the climate as your “batting average.”
“It’s hard to say,” Serreze said. “But are the dice a little bit loaded now? Absolutely.”
The blizzard roared across western New York Friday and Saturday. With many grocery stores in the Buffalo area closed and driving bans in place, some people pleaded on social media for donations of food and diapers.
“It was like looking at a white wall for 14 to 18 hours straight,” Poloncarz, the county official, said.
Relief is coming later this week, as forecasts call for temperatures to slowly rise, said Ashton Robinson Cook, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Cook said the bomb cyclone — when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm — has weakened. It developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions including heavy winds and snow.
Some 3,410 domestic and international flights were canceled Monday as of about 3 p.m. EDT, according to the tracking site FlightAware. The site said Southwest Airlines had 2,497 cancellations — about 60% of its scheduled flights and about 10 times as many as any other major U.S. carrier.
Southwest said the weather was improving, which would “stabilize and improve our situation.”
Based on FlightAware data, airports all across the U.S. were suffering from cancellations and delays, including Denver, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Seattle, Baltimore and Chicago.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul toured the aftermath in Buffalo — her hometown — on Monday, calling the blizzard “one for the ages.” Almost every fire truck in the city became stranded Saturday, she said.
Hochul noted the storm came a little over a month after the region was inundated with another “historic” snowfall. Between the two storms, snowfall totals are not far off from the 95.4 inches (242 centimeters) the area normally sees in an entire winter season.
The National Weather Service said the snow total at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport stood at 49.2 inches (1.25 meters) at 10 a.m. Monday. Officials say the airport will be shut through Wednesday morning.
Shahida Muhammad told WKBW that an outage knocked out power to her 1-year-old son's ventilator. She and the child's father manually administered breaths from Friday until Sunday when rescuers saw her desperate social media posts and came to their aid. She said her son was doing well despite the ordeal and described him as “a fighter."
In a makeshift hut in her living room, Trisha LoGrasso was still huddled around a space heater Monday with three of her children and her eldest daughter’s boyfriend. The temperature inside her Buffalo home was 42 degrees (5.5 C). She was without heat because of a gas leak, and burst pipes left her with no running water.
“I’ve lived here my whole life, and this is the worst storm I’ve ever seen,” the 48-year-old said.
Melissa Osmon and her husband James were without power for more than 72 hours in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, and would retreat to their car to stay warm for hours at a time.
“We even watched the Buffalo Bills game on our phone,” Osmon said, speaking by phone from her GMC Acadia.
“You can see your breath inside the house,” she said. “That’s how cold it is.”
The storm knocked out power in communities from Maine to Seattle.
Storm-related deaths were reported practically nationwide, including at least eight killed in crashes in Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky. A woman fell through Wisconsin river ice, and there was a fatal fire at a Kansas homeless persons camp.
In Jackson, Mississippi, crews struggled Monday to get water through the capital city’s beleaguered water system, authorities said. Many areas had no water or low water pressure. On Christmas Day, residents were told to boil their drinking water due to water lines bursting in the frigid temperatures.
“The issue has to be significant leaks in the system that we have yet to identify,” the city said in a statement Monday.
Associated Press journalist Jake Bleiberg in Dallas; Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Jonathan Mattise in Charleston, West Virginia; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Wilson Ring in Stowe, Vermont; Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida; and Ron Todt in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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