Savage US blizzard leaves at least 55 dead, power outages, travel complications

More than 50 people are now thought to have died in the horror US winter storms with some freezing to death in their cars.

Lake Erie waters wash over the shoreline on December 23, 2022 in Hamburg, New York. The Buffalo suburb and surrounding area are expecting wind gusts over 70 miles per hour battering homes and businesses through out the holiday weekend. (Photo by John Normile/Getty Images)

The death toll from the brutal US winter storms has jumped to 55, with a single city bearing the brunt of the horror conditions and around half of all the fatalities.

The city of Buffalo, in upstate New York on the border with Canada, has been the hardest hit with huge snow drifts and at least 26 deaths.

Some people are said to have died in their cars when the vehicles ran out of fuel and the occupants were unable to reach safety. Other bodies have been found on the street buried in snow. Pile ups of vehicles, crashing on icy roads, have also led to several deaths.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said Buffalo was now “like a war zone”.

We had search & rescue teams out all night rescuing people from their cars.We are starting to see new car’s attempting to drive & getting stuck slowing down our search&rescue efforts.The driving ban is still in effect.The roads are impassable & the wind is causing zero visibility pic.twitter.com/7tzKtwA5gG

— Cheektowaga Police (@CPDNYInfo) December 24, 2022

The frigid conditions have left people without power and flights and transport cancelled. In New York State 300 people had to shelter in a fast food restaurant after the snow meant they were unable to leave.

“Much of the eastern United States will remain in a deep freeze through Monday before a moderating trend sets in on Tuesday,” the US National Weather Service said.

Stream your news live & on demand with Flash. From CNN International, Al Jazeera, Sky News, BBC World, CNBC & more. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer available for a limited time only >

Vehicles move along a highway in Louisville, Kentucky, under freezing temperatures on December 23, 2022. (Photo by LEANDRO LOZADA / AFP)

City ‘like a war zone’

In Buffalo a blizzard left the city marooned with emergency services unable to reach the worst-hit areas. Police said two people died in the city because they had medical emergencies at home and ambulances were not able to reach them in time. One person was found dead on a street corner.

In some place snow drifts were 2.5 metres high.

“It is (like) going to a war zone, and the vehicles along the sides of the roads are shocking,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

Ms Hochul told reporters on Sunday evening that residents were still in the throes of a “very dangerous life-threatening situation” and warned anyone in the area to remain indoors.

Vehicles trapped under heavy snow in the streets of downtown Buffalo, New York, on December 26Picture: AFP PHOTO / THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL

Phenomenon fuelling Buffalo chaos

Buffalo has been particularly hard hit due to a phenomenon know as “lake effect snow”.

The city, which together with nearby Niagara Falls and other towns, has a population of more than one million sits on the banks of Lake Erie and is close to Lake Ontario – two of the Great Lakes.

As cold air moves over the – in comparison – warm air of the lakes it scoops up moisture which rises into the atmosphere and then freezes and falls as snow on land nearby.

This movement of moisture can lead to large amounts of snow over a relatively limited areas.

The city’s international airport remains closed until Tuesday and a driving ban remained in effect for all of the region.

“We now have what’ll be talked about not just today but for generations (as) the blizzard of ‘22,” Ms Hochul said, adding that the brutality had surpassed the region’s prior landmark snowstorm of 1977 in the “intensity, the longevity, the ferocity of the winds.”

Due to frozen electric substations, some residents were not expected to regain power until Tuesday, with one substation reportedly buried under 5.5 metres of snow, a senior county official said.

A cross-country storm is expected to unleash blizzard conditions in the northern US and severe weather in the South and move towards the Northeast later in the week. (Photo by GEORGE FREY / AFP)

Stranded in a diner

The extreme weather sent wind chill temperatures in all 48 contiguous US states below freezing over the weekend, stranded holiday travellers with thousands of flights cancelled and trapped residents in ice- and snow-encrusted homes.

Around 50 miles west of Buffalo, 200 people found themselves stranded in a Denny’s fast food restaurant on Christmas Eve.

“There were families sleeping on tables, sleeping on, you know, three dining chairs, heads down on the table,” John Thornton told CBS News who was found himself in the diner for 48 hours.

But the upsides as there was plenty of food with staff serving 400 meals.

The aftermath of a massive accident in Ohio as snow storms created havoc across the US. Picture: Twitter

Distressing footage has emerged of a car crash in Canada, near Toronto

In the dashcam footage a truck can be seen driving in white out conditions.

By the time the driver sees a pile up, involving other trucks and cars, in front of him there is no time to stop.

The truck slides into a car slamming the vehicle into another truck.

Up to sixty vehicles were involved in the crash. But remarkably no one died.

VIEWERS DISCRETION ADVISED🚨
Dashcam Of Footage Of Pileup On Hwy 401. Drive Safe, Be Safe. Get Home To Your Family’s 🙏🏽
.#HWY401#London#Dutton#snowstorm#pileup#WinterStorm#ONHwys#ONStorm#OPP#ontario#TruckDriver#trucking#RoadSafetypic.twitter.com/UGUgwaGheo

— 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da_sarpanch) December 23, 2022

Authorities have said deaths have been recorded after people heart attacks attacks shovelling snow, one person died of carbon monoxide poisoning after snow block his chimney and several people were found dead inside their cars.

In Buffalo, western New York, a blizzard left the city marooned, with emergency services unable to reach the worst-hit areas.

Drivers were being warned not to take to the roads — even as the nation reached what is usually its busiest time of year for travel.

The extreme weather has severely taxed electricity grids, with multiple power providers urging millions of people to reduce usage to minimise rolling blackouts in places like North Carolina and Tennessee.

At one point on Saturday, nearly 1.7 million customers were without electricity in the biting cold, according to tracker poweroutage.us.

The figure dropped substantially by Sunday night, although more than 50,000 customers in eastern states still lacked power.

The fierce winter conditions are also taking a toll in Canada. A weekend bus rollover in British Columbia that was believed to be caused by icy roads left four people dead and sent 53 to the hospital, including two still in critical condition early Sunday.

Hundreds of thousands were left without power in Ontario and Quebec, many flights were cancelled in major cities and train passenger service between Toronto and Ottawa was suspended.