A New York State official claimed that some people were locked in their cars for over two days due to a huge winter storm coming from the Pacific Northwest.
Dozens of people have tragically passed away in western New York after a storm that many outlets referred to as a “bomb cyclone” struck the area over Christmas weekend and through Monday and Tuesday, per BBC. Another nine inches of snow were projected to fall Tuesday.
Conditions in downtown #Buffalo. I’ve covered many winter weather storms through the years. This is about, if not the worst I’ve ever seen! A true #Blizzard with no letting up anytime soon. @WeatherNation @SPECNews1BUF pic.twitter.com/zmvnXeTiyb
— Dan Russell (@Dan_Weather_Man) December 23, 2022
White House occupant Joe Biden, who declared a statewide emergency in New York, posted that his “heart is with those who lost loved ones this holiday weekend.”
Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reportedly likened damage caused by the storm with “going to a war zone.” Emergency vehicles have not been able to access some of the damaged parts of the city and county, as some even get stuck in the snow.
As this is going on, the state has reportedly faced issues of people taking advantage of the chaos. Looters apparently smashed windows and robbed businesses as police were unable to do their regular patrols.
“I don’t know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said when speaking on the lootings Monday.
“They are the ‘lowest of the low.’”
The major also suggested that these acts of crime were not committed out of true desperation, ie. to secure essentials such as food or medicine.
The Daily Caller reported that tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment have already been stolen as police and other first responders work to save more lives.
State officials have searched numerous cars for survivors of the storm, but have found man bodies in vehicles and by snow banks, reported BBC. Some have died of heart failure while plowing snow, according to Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz.
The storm is vast, reaching from Canada to Mexico, and has caused the deaths of 56 thus far, per BBC.
