2023-01-01 08:00:00
USA
How Buffalo fights chaos after devastating winter storm
01.01.2023, 17:14 | Reading time: 4 minutes
Buffalo: Clean up after winter storm
Buffalo- Clearing up after the winter storm
The violent snowstorm over large parts of the USA continues to have devastating effects. So far, more than 50 people have died nationwide due to the snow masses and the extreme cold. In Buffalo, many residents are busy clearing the paths again.
Video: Weather
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After the catastrophic Storm Elliott of the Century, the US prepares for more severe weather. The situation in Buffalo is so dramatic.
Washington/Buffalo. They had no time for parties. On New Year’s Eve, the citizens of Buffalo with thick scarves around their necks and spades in hand on the snowy streets, around their garage entrances and doorsteps of more than five feet Snow to shovel free that the record-breaking storm had toppled over the city on the shores of Lake Erie.
After all, the power supply restored. But many people in the United States are only now realizing how dramatic the past few days have been in many places. New York Governor Kathy Hochul spoke of the “Blizzard of the Century‘ that had swept across America. The result of Storm Elliott is devastating: Erie County in the west of the state alone New York has almost 40 fatalities to mourn.
Elliott: The winter storm and its aftermath
At least 25 other people died in eleven other states – for example in Ohio, where nine people died accidents died as a result of the storm. Now people are cleaning up – but experts are already warning of further storms.
No city was hit as hard as Buffalo. Several people froze to death in their cars. Among them was 22-year-old Anndel Taylor from Charlotte, North Carolina. She had moved to Buffalo to care for her ailing father. It caught her on her way home from work Sturm freezing. Her car didn’t move. She sent from the smartphone Videos and texting her family in Charlotte, begging them to do something. The young woman was dead six hours later.
Dozens of people froze to death in their homes and cars around the city of Buffalo. The snow is still meters deep.
Photo: JOED VIERA / AFP
Her body was not found until days later, when salvage crews were finally able to reach the cars, which were covered in snow and ice, and forced open the doors.
In the meantime they became corpses according to official information, 39 victims recovered. The balance sheet gives an idea of how serious the time was: helpers found 17 dead outdoors in Erie County, eleven in houses and four in cars. Another four people died while clearing snow. Also read: Climate change – “I watched my city burn”
USA: Rescue workers can’t make it through the snow
It was already on the first evening of the storm shortly before Christmas Snow falling at a rate that surprised motorists and wreaked havoc on the streets. Thousands were in “whiteout” conditions where the sight range is equal to zero, stranded not far from their own apartments and houses, did not move and were also on foot without a chance.
From the cell phone emergency call Contacting them didn’t help – even emergency vehicles were unable to get through the thick snow. Around Buffalo alone, three people died because the emergency services could not reach them in time.
Gamaliel Vega tries to dig up his car in Buffalo.
Photo: Derek Gee / dpa
Buffalo continued to reign between the years curfews and strict driving bans – even for people who urgently needed food or medicine. Erie County’s chief executive was blown away: Buffalo should lift the bans. “I’m fed up with it now,” said Mark Poloncarz. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown responded by return mail. Poloncarz will “apparently not with that Stress this unique storm finished”.
Weather: Republicans question whether climate change exists
Meanwhile, a fundamental argument rages among politicians in Washington over whether climate change exists at all. Many republican agree with Donald Trump, who asked the skeptical question during the first blizzard of his presidency: “Where is global warming when we have so much snow and ice?”
The connection is undeniable, explains the meteorologist Rich Dooley from Arlington (Virginia). “That’s called it Convectionwhen arctic air masses from the north collide with the ever-warming waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Great Lakes, it harbors explosive fuel for increasingly massive ones winter storms.“
Just in time for the new year, the next storms are already brewing: massive ones were on the east coast rainfalls expected, while a winter storm warning has been issued for 13 states on the Pacific coast. The harsh winter is far from over in the USA.
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