Officials in Erie County said Monday that a powerful blizzard that ravaged western New York over Christmas weekend had killed at least 25 people.
During a press conference, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz told the media that the county’s total storm-related fatalities had increased by 12 from the previous night.
Many of these incidents consisted of people who were found in snow banks, in their cars, or who had passed away from cardiac arrests while shoveling or blowing snow.
According to Poloncarz, more deaths had been reported, but the county medical examiner was trying to determine if they were directly attributable to the weather.
This has been the worst blizzard in 45 years to hit western New York through the Christmas holiday. It capped an Arctic freeze and winter storm front that had extended over the country.
According to an NBC News tally, at least 50 people have died in U.S. weather-related incidents since late last week.
One of the hardest-hit areas was the larger Buffalo area, located close to the Canadian border on the edge of Lake Erie.
Governor Kathy Hochul anticipates that the storm will be remembered as “the Blizzard of ’22” because of the numbing cold, howling winds, and heavy “lake-effect” snow caused by precipitation being picked up by arctic air traveling over warmer lake waters.
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