A loader clears roadways on December 24, 2022 in Hamburg, Latest York. The Buffalo suburb and surrounding area was hit hard by the winter storm Elliott with wind gusts over 70 miles per hour battering homes and businesses through out the vacation weekend. (Photo by John Normile/Getty Images)
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The death toll from the historic blizzard across america climbed to 63 on Tuesday, as record snowfall blocked roads, hindering rescue operations, officials said.
Confirming seven additional fatalities in Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” that the storm was “probably worse than anything that this city has seen in over 50 years.”
Despite a driving ban in force in parts of the Buffalo area, “we still are finding a number of people out and about just hampering our efforts as first responders,” the town’s Public Works Commissioner Nathan Marton said Tuesday morning on NBC News Now, adding that the department was attempting to clear at the least one lane for emergency vehicles.
“We want people to proceed to remain patient, stay off the roads today, and as soon as we are able to, we are going to lift the driving ban in the town of Buffalo,” said Brown.
The blinding snowstorm has particularly targeted Erie County, Latest York, which accounted for nearly half the death toll at 33, including 27 in Buffalo.
Wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph could rapidly deteriorate visibility, the National Weather Service said in a 5:45 a.m. ETÂ bulletin, adding that parts of storm-weary Latest York were experiencing snowfall of 1 to 2 inches per hour.
Pedestrians walk along a snow-covered street in Buffalo, Latest York, on December 26, 2022.
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“The snow will accumulate so rapidly that it can be extremely difficult for the road crews to maintain the roads clear,” the weather service said later within the morning.
A snow blanket has left roads impassable, Buffalo County Executive Mark Poloncarz said in a news conference Monday, adding that he hoped a driving ban that has been in place for days may very well be lifted soon for some suburbs.Â
But forecasters said in a 3:15 a.m. ET bulletin Tuesday that parts of western Latest York could record as much as 8 more inches of snow, with as much as 5 inches in Buffalo. Since July 1, Buffalo has experienced at the least 100 inches of snow, making it the snowiest begin to any season on record.
Lake effect snow occurs when cold air passes over the unfrozen and warmer lake water, transferring moisture and heat to the lower parts of the atmosphere. The air then rises to form clouds, leading to intense snow.
President Joe Biden on Monday approved an emergency declaration for Latest York.
Nationwide, temperatures plummeted and big snow drifts have left cities in whiteouts leading to power outages, cancellations of 1000’s of flights and residents trapped of their homes without food.Â
Around 4,000 homes remained without power in Buffalo, said Brown, adding that the number was down from over 20,000 as power was slowly being restored.
Stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the Mexican border, the storm had killed at the least 63 people as of Tuesday morning, in accordance with an NBC News tally. The deaths were recorded in 12 states: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Latest York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin.Â
Residents shovel snow after snowfall in Buffalo, Latest York, on December 26, 2022.
Fatih Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
About 2,900 flights into and out of the U.S. had been canceled within the country on Tuesday as of 6 a.m. ET, in accordance with the flight-tracking website FlightAware. Greater than 2,500 of those canceled flights were Southwest Airlines.
On Monday, the travel-heavy day after Christmas, Southwest had canceled 2,900 flights, amounting to 70% of its entire schedule, stranding furious passengers across airports.
In Jackson, Mississippi, broken pipes left 1000’s of residents without running water Monday as the town struggled to return pressure to its frail water system.
The storm was expected to step by step improve over the week, forecasters said.
“Lingering lake-effect snows downwind from Great Lakes will develop into less intense and fade on Tuesday,” the weather service said in its 2:59 a.m. ETÂ bulletin Tuesday. Temperatures within the East and Midwest were also expected to moderate over the subsequent few days, it added.
