Power outages, ambulances stuck in the snow and deaths from exposure: the damage of the winter storm in the US continues

 The storm's reach has been almost unprecedented, stretching from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the Mexican border.

The storm that affects much of the U.S. and Canadian territory is what forecasters call a "bomb cyclone." It has already caused multiple car accidents and left thousands of homes without power. The risks wouldn't end anytime soon.

Wind chill alerts were in effect for more than 25 states, from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Canadian border because of the dangerous cold. The National Weather Service in Buffalo has called this storm a "once-in-a-generation event."

In the middle of Christmas Eve, it was reported that at least one person suffered a medical emergency in his home and ambulance crews could not contact him due to the weather in Buffalo where Kathy Hochul, governor of New York, also said that almost all the fire trucks in the city were trapped in the snow. and several ambulances were also rescued.

Buffalo Police, Buffalo Fire, & @nyspolice worked through the holiday weekend to help motorists caught in the storm & residents in need of medical attention.

We’re incredibly grateful for their service — & to all the heroes helping keep New Yorkers safe during this blizzard. pic.twitter.com/MVNbkEUmuw

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 26, 2022

According to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, temperatures in South Dakota (taking into account the wind chill) dropped to below 47.2 Celsius.

ICYMI: It was a very cold and very windy Christmas travel week with ground blizzard conditions across much of the region. Check out the final numbers!https://t.co/URauJQdmlp pic.twitter.com/O6VOiSI7y8

— NWS Sioux Falls (@NWSSiouxFalls) December 25, 2022

On the morning of December 26, authorities in Erie County, northwest of New York, reported that the winter storm left a balance of 25 deaths, one of the deaths was due to carbon monoxide poisoning inside a house but the rest were found on the streets or trapped in cars. 

Thousands of flights have been cancelled and some roads have been rendered impassable by heavy snowfall. The National Weather Service said snow accumulated at Buffalo-Niagara Airport amounted to 109 centimeters on Sunday, Dec. 25.

Even in usually warm areas, such as the state of Florida, one of the lowest temperatures in history was recorded: in Tampa they reached 31 degrees Fahrenheit (less than 0 Celsius).

On December 24, there were still 292,304 homes and businesses without electricity. Maine was one of the hardest-hit states with nearly 110,000 properties without power.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), "active alerts" include warnings for very strong to damaging winds. In addition, there is a relatively high level of uncertainty due to snow accumulation.

Credit: vanguardia