Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country were left without power on Saturday due to a severe winter storm, which also crippled police, firefighters, and an airport in snow-covered New York state. Millions of people were anxious about possible future power disruptions.
Officials have linked at least 19 deaths throughout the nation to the storm, including two who passed away at their houses outside of Buffalo, New York, when emergency services were unable to reach them in the midst of a historic snowstorm.
Buffalo residents fled their houses on Saturday in search of warm weather due to the heavy snowfall, chilly temperatures, and days of power outages. Buffalo Niagara International Airport will be closed through Sunday, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul.
As of right now, Hochul added, “no matter how many emergency vehicles we have, they cannot survive.”
By Sunday, according to forecasters, Buffalo was expected to receive several feet of snow, according to CBS News correspondent Naomi Ruchim.
While a major electric grid operator issued a warning to the 65 million people it serves in the eastern United States that ongoing power outages would occur, blinding snowstorms, freezing rain, and freezing cold also caused power outages from Maine to Seattle.
