At least 27 people died in one of the worst weather-related disasters in New York as a strong blizzard paralysed the region over the Christmas weekend.
Up to nine more inches of snow could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The rest of the US has been reeling from ferocious winter storm Elliott as well, with at least another two dozen deaths reported in other parts of the country.
Thousands in New York were left without power and a driving ban remained in place for Buffalo as residents struggled with limited stocks of food.
“This has been a very difficult and dangerous storm,” Buffalo’s mayor Byron Brown said at a news conference. “It’s been described as a once-in-a-generation storm. And everything that has been forecast, we have gotten in the city of Buffalo, and then some.”
Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said some people were stranded in their cars for more than two days while nearly 50 inches of snowfall was recorded as of Monday morning.
He said the fatalities included cases of people found in snow banks and in cars or who had died from cardiac stress while plowing or blowing snow. Some died while shoveling snow in the cold and others succumbed when emergency crews could not respond in time to medical crises.
“This is not the end yet,” Mr Poloncarz said, calling the blizzard “the worst storm probably in our lifetime”.
In Niagara County, a 27-year-old man reportedly died of carbon monoxide poisoning after snow blocked an external furnace.
President Joe Biden said his prayers were with the bereaved families and issued a federal emergency declaration for the state on Monday night authorising the administration to bolster recovery efforts.
“We stand ready to make sure they have the resources they need to get through this,” the president said in a tweet. “My heart is with those who lost loved ones this holiday weekend. You are in my and Jill’s prayers.”
Melissa Carrick, a doula, said the blizzard forced her to coach a pregnant client through childbirth via telephone. The woman was transported to a hospital about 45 minutes south of Buffalo because none of the closer medical facilities were reachable.
“In any other normal Buffalo storm? I would just go because that’s what you do – just drive through the snow,” she told the Associated Press. “But you knew this was different.”
Hundreds of National Guard troops were pressed into action in assisting local emergency personnel and police.
Mr Poloncarz requested motorists to heed the driving ban in order to keep the narrow street routes free of traffic for emergency and utility workers.
“There are cars everywhere, everywhere, pointing the wrong direction on roads. They’ve basically been plowed in and they need to be dug out and towed. It’s going to take time to clear those,” he added.
