More than 315,000 homes and businesses across the US lost power on Christmas Eve, as the destructive snowstorm and wind severed power lines. Heavy snowfall and temperatures dropped to dangerous levels, killing at least 22 people.
As the cold front continues to cover the US over the weekend, snowstorms are still hitting the upper Midwest and Northeast regions.
In particular, in the Buffalo area of New York, heavy snow (more than 60cm in some places) and strong winds (sometimes more than 96km/h) have given the view almost 0 from December 23-24.
The winter storm could continue for at least the next 36 hours. CNN quoted Erie County Deputy District Disaster Prevention and Internal Security Commissioner Gregory Butcher as saying the storm will strengthen in the coming days.
About 500 drivers were trapped in Erie from the evening of December 23 to the morning of December 24, and several hundred others may still be trapped in the early afternoon of the same day.
In the most severely affected areas, many emergency teams tried to approach the people who were also trapped.
Erie County leader Mark Poloncarz advised residents not to leave home or travel to the area: Dont leave home. It would be much safer to be indoors, even if there was a power outage, and the indoor temperature was just 7 degrees," he said.
Diocese of Buffalo archiffect Michael W. Fisher called on churches to broadcast Christmas mass live due to harsh weather.
Although it is Christmas, in such dangerous conditions, no one should put themselves or others in a dangerous position, the cardinal wrote on Twitter.
Even when there is no snowfall and gusts of wind, temperatures and cold winds are still at dangerously low levels across the country, below zero degrees.
As of 9:45 p.m. ET on December 24, 315,782 households and businesses in the US had no power, leaving many without heating or hot water.
At least 13 states in the eastern half of the country have asked customers to save electricity for two weekends because of overloaded use, warning of possible alternating power outages if too much stress. PJM Interconnection serves about 65 million people.
Weather forecast says dangerously cold winds will be heard over much of the central and eastern United States over the weekend. Dangerous cold front and low temperatures will create a life-threatening risk for stranded tourists, the countrys national weather agency said early on December 24.
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are expected to have their coldest Christmas nights ever. Washington, D.C., could see a second strong cold spell on Christmas Eve, following its first record cold spell in 1989. New York will have its coldest Christmas Eve since 1906. Chicago is expected to see temperatures rise above zero again but still experience its coldest Christmas Eve since 1983, the reporter said.
