US: A relentless storm, what authorities called the ‘blizzard of the century’ paralysed western New York over the Christmas weekend.
So far, the storm has killed 27 people in New York and at least 60 across the whole of the United States.
Local officials on Monday said efforts to dig out the snow-bound region around Buffalo were on as rescue operations continued.
Roadways remained littered with cars, buses, ambulances, tow trucks and even plows buried beneath towering drifts, complicating efforts to clear snow-blanketed streets and reach stranded residents in need of medical care.
In New York, particularly in Buffalo, authorities said bodies were discovered inside vehicles and from under snow banks, as emergency officials went from car to car to search for more survivors.
A few of the grocery stores that had been closed for days reopened on Monday, and people trekked more than a mile (1.6 km) through the middle of otherwise impassable streets to get there.
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.
The brutal storm, howling winds and sub-zero temperatures forced the cancellation of more than 15,000 flights across the United States in recent days.
– INDIA TODAY
