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| Snowbound neighborhood in Cheektowaga, New York following the deadly Christmas weekend blizzard. Photo by John Waller via AP. |
Stephen Marth of Spectrum News 1 BUF said in a tweet 20 people are so far are known to have died in the city of Buffalo, six more in Erie County and another in Niagara County.
Not everyone who died were caught in cars out in the open. Some died of heart attacks while trying to clear snow. Others died of other causes because rescue workers could not reach them. At least one died when a heater vent became clogged with snow
Officials say they are almost certain this terrible death toll will rise.
Now, the speculation, and the finger pointing, is already beginning as to why this blizzard was so fatal.
Weather forecasts prior to the blizzard were as dire as they get. The forecast discussion from the National Weather Service office in Buffalo issued at 1:38 a.m. Wednesday, December 21 read in part:
"As if the very real threat for damage producing winds were not enough....there will also be the risk of a prolonged, paralyzing heavy lake effect snow event. The very strong to damaging winds, blowing and drifting snow with localized blizzard conditions followed by a rapid flash freeze."
Note that this is two full days before the crap really hit the fan in Buffalo.
The 6:32 Wednesday forecast discussion said, "a once in a generation winter storm to slam the region heading into and THROUGH the Christmas weekend."
The NWS office in Buffalo first released a winter storm watch at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, December 20, so that's giving nearly a three day warning. That warning said in part, "Travel for the holiday weekend, including Friday, could be very difficult to impossible at times." The watch also included an alert for possible tree and power line damage, and dangerously low wind chills. "
At 3:54 a.m. December 22, the Buffalo National Weather Service office issued a blizzard warning. That's a good 30 hours in advance of when blizzard conditions began in Buffalo. So people had a long lead time to prepare, with strident wording to get light a fire under residents' butts.
This might be Monday morning quarterbacking, but a travel ban in Erie County, which is the area that includes Buffalo, did not go into effect until 9:30 a.m. December 23. By then, perhaps thousands of people had already driven to work, shopping or errands.
Those people ended having to attempt a drive home in zero visibility blizzard conditions, and many of them got stuck. Soon, things got so bad that emergency vehicles got stuck. Nobody could rescue anyone who was in trouble.
Buffalo is by no means out of the woods. The Washington Post today reports that 10,000 people in the region still had no power as of Monday. Electrical substations are damaged, including one that is inaccessible for now due to 18-foot tall snow drifts.
People stuck in shelters and nursing homes are reportedly running out of food, the Washington Post reports. Many streets remain completely blocked, and the airport will remain closed to at least Monday.
Another four to eight inches of snow is in the forecast for Buffalo through tomorrow. At least 49.1 inches of snow have fallen in Buffalo since the storm started.
Yet another danger lurks in Buffalo: Temperatures are expected to rise into the 50s by next weekend, and rain should break out. That raises the risk of flooding.
Overall, the death toll nationwide from the storm stood at 49, according to the Associated Press. That includes one person in Castleton, Vermont, who was killed by a falling tree on Thursday.
Canada was hard hit by the storm as well.
About 380,000 people in Quebec lost power at the height of the storm, mostly from damage caused by high winds.
The northern edge of the Buffalo blizzard reached into Canadian shorelines along Lake Erie, dumping feet of snow and blocking roads for days.
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