The extreme weather sent wind chill temperatures in all 48 contiguous US states below freezing over the weekend, cancelled thousands of flights, stranded holiday travellers and trapped residents in ice- and snow-encrusted homes. More than 200,000 people across several eastern states woke up without power on Christmas morning, and many more had their holiday travel plans upended although the five-day-long storm featuring blizzard conditions and ferocious winds showed signs of easing.

The Buffalo storm is “a crisis of epic proportion” and “the worst of the worst”, said New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a native of Buffalo, where 2.4-metre (8-foot) snow drifts against front doors and power outages in freezing temperatures have created life-threatening conditions. A relentless winter storm brought Christmas Day danger and misery to millions of Americans as intense snow and frigid cold gripped parts of the eastern United States and raised weather-related deaths to at least 24.Ī crisis situation was unfolding on Sunday in Buffalo in western New York, where a blizzard left the city marooned and prevented emergency services from reaching high-impact areas.

Canadians brutal ice storm it city