Jan Wesner Childs
Winter Storm Elliott left dozens of people dead in 13 states. More than half of the victims are in western New York, where feet of snow and blizzard conditions stalled emergency services and trapped residents in homes and cars.
The worst of the impacts were in Erie County, New York, where at least 39 deaths were connected to the storm as of Thursday afternoon. One person is also dead in Niagara County, New York.
County Executive Mark Poloncarz warned in a Wednesday briefing the death toll could rise as emergency crews fanned out through neighborhoods to check on individuals who called for assistance during the storm.
A special hotline was activated and manned by county staff as the storm bore down.
“Initially those calls consisted of people in dire need," James Blackwell, an official who helped answer calls, said in the briefing. "People trapped in their vehicles, trapped in their houses, wondering what to do. People were scared."
A driving ban was finally lifted early Thursday morning in the city of Buffalo, which is in Erie County. More than 100 military police and other law enforcement were brought in for traffic
(MORE: Winter Storm Elliott Recap)
Efforts were being made Wednesday to clear at least one lane of every street. First responders were picking up people who needed routine medical care like dialysis and helping essential workers get to their places of employment.
Hundreds of vehicles towed from where they were stuck or abandoned on local streets are being held in parking lots where owners can pick them up.
Elliott blasted the Buffalo area with brutal blizzard conditions from Thursday into the weekend. Snow continued Monday and wasn't expected to end until later today.
Poloncarz said the deaths included people who were found in cars, outside, in their homes and some who died of cardiac events while blowing or shoveling snow.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said some victims “were trying to walk out during storm conditions, got disoriented and passed away out in the street," according to the Associated Press.
“Our police officers are human," Brown said. "It is painful to find members of your community that are deceased.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said more than 550 rescues had been carried out.
(MORE: Buffalo Bills Return Home To Vehicles Buried In Feet Of Snow)
Overall, Winter Storm Elliott is being connected to the deaths of at least 69 people in thirteen states nationwide, including those in New York.
In Buffalo, winds gusted around 70 mph at the height of the storm and as much as 49 inches of snow fell.
Hundreds of cars were abandoned or stuck on roads, and desperate residents took to social media to plead for assistance. In many cases, fire trucks and ambulances couldn't make it through the feet of snow and drifts. Poloncarz said that people had been stranded in their vehicles for two days in some cases.
Volunteers were delivering food to those were stuck and helping ferry people to hospitals. Calls were being sent out for more vehicles and snowmobiles to assist.
Heading into the holiday weekend on Friday, millions of people were without electricity across the eastern half of the U.S., many in frigid temperatures. The top power outages by Tuesday morning were down to about 6,200 each in New York and Maine, according to PowerOutage.us.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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