Most of the dead are from New York state, where President Biden declared an emergency

The winter storm named Elliot continues to wreak havoc across the United States, primarily in New York State. Governor Kathy Hochul asked the White House to declare the north of the state a “catastrophic area” to deal with the costs and expenses caused by the storm.

So far, at least 55 deaths have been registered throughout the country due to the storm, of which the majority are in the aforementioned NY district.

“It’s heartbreaking to get calls from families with children who say they’re frozen,” Police Chief John Garcia, sheriff of Erie County, which includes Buffalo, the second-largest city in New York state with about 275,000, told CNN. population.

As if the power outages, the inability to leave the houses, the low temperatures and the general problems caused by Elliot were not enough, there are cities in which looting of supermarkets was reported. Such is the case of Buffalo, where several businesses were vandalized and robbed.

Given this, the superintendent of the New York Police, Steven Nigrelli, indicated that “those are isolated incidents and do not reflect the greater community of western New York, and I am sure that they will be limited to those two incidents or at least that one. it is our hope.”

The situation caused riots and an exchange of shots.

The National Weather Service (NWS) rates Elliot as “once in a generation.”

Its heavy snowfall and hurricane winds leave thousands of people trapped in their homes and on the roads, passengers stranded on Christmas Eve due to the cancellation of flights and homes without electricity due to the collapse of the electrical infrastructure.

President Joe Biden approved the emergency declaration for the state of New York, the most affected by storm Elliot.

With this declaration, the US government approves federal aid to the state and local governments, in order to deal with the consequences of the storm.

The president thus authorized the Department of the Interior and the Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to coordinate the actions that are necessary to face this situation and “alleviate adversity and suffering.”

accident deaths

In addition to New York, deaths due to cold or accidents were recorded in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin, according to local media.

In Buffalo, the dead were found in their cars, homes or snowbanks. Some died while clearing snow, others because rescue teams could not arrive in time to attend to medical crises. Emergency personnel go “vehicle by vehicle” in search of survivors.

County Administrator Mark Poloncarz called the storm “probably the worst in our lifetimes,” even for a region where heavy snowfall is common.

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