New York, Nov 21 – The federal authorities of the United States declared a state of emergency in several counties of the state of New York, affected during the weekend by a strong storm that left more than two meters of snow in several locations.
State Governor Kathy Hochul announced in a statement Monday that President Joe Biden approved that declaration, which will allow emergency federal aid to be provided to affected communities.
This is the first time since 2014 that New York has called for an emergency to be declared for such a storm.
New York authorities refer to the snowfall of recent days as a “historic” event that left towns – such as the city of Buffalo, next to the Canadian border – covered with more than two meters of snow.
According to Hochul, cleanup efforts continue today in several areas of the north, west and center of the state, where the storm caused road closures and flight cancellations.
As for victims, authorities confirmed that at least two Erie County residents died of cardiac events due to the effort they made shoveling snow.