Parts of the US could see another nine inches of snowfall as President Biden authorises federal support
Parts of the US could see nine inches of new snow today, in a sign that the winter blizzard causing chaos across North America is not over yet.
The storm has caused at least 55 deaths in the US, with a further four people killed in Canada after a bus rolled over on icy roads in British Columbia.
In the US, 28 of the deaths were in the state of New York, most of them in Erie County, where the main city Buffalo has been hit hard.
President Joe Biden has authorised federal support for New York state, with tens of thousands of people left without power in the storm.
Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz described the blizzard as “the worst storm probably in our lifetime”, warning: “This is not the end yet.”
He said some people had been stranded in their cars for more than two days, with emergency services struggling against the terrible weather to reach those in need of help.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said during the weekend that many of the state’s ambulances and fire trucks were themselves stuck in the snow, and police in Buffalo appealed online for snow mobile owners to help.
On Monday, she called the storm “one for the ages”, adding that it and another big snowstorm just over a month ago had brought almost as much snow as the area would expect during the whole winter.
People who left their cars in search of warmth and safety were now trying to find them again, many of the vehicles having been buried under snow.
Read more:
What is a bomb cyclone?
In pictures: US gripped by deep freeze
Life on the road as deep-freeze conditions hit New York State
And it is expected that more victims will be found as the snow clears – many of the fatalities already confirmed were people who froze while stranded in their vehicles.
Some victims died while shovelling snow and some died because ambulances could not reach them in time to respond to medical emergencies.
Many shops in Buffalo are closed and people have been told not to travel, leaving some resorting to social media pleas for donations of food and other household essentials.
There is some relief in sight, however, with US National Weather Service meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook saying temperatures will slowly start to rise later this week.
On Monday, almost 4,000 flights were cancelled, according to the tracking site FlightAware, and almost 70,000 homes and businesses remained without power.
