The death toll from a devastating snowstorm that paralyzed western New York rose to at least 29 Monday morning, as thousands were left without power as the snow continued to fall.
“We can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Mark C. Poloncarz, the Erie County executive director, said at a news conference Monday morning. “But this is not the end yet. We are not there.”
Mr Poloncarz said officials in Erie County, including Buffalo, had identified 12 more deaths as of Sunday that they linked to the storm.
He said the deaths included people trapped in their cars and people who had “heart-related events” during snow removal outside homes and businesses.
At least one death in Niagara County was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said. The county sheriff’s office said a 27-year-old man was found dead at his home in Lockport, NY, after heavy snow blocked an outside furnace and caused carbon monoxide to enter the house. Another person was taken to the hospital for treatment, the sheriff said.
As the remnants of the storm began to move out of the region, a driving ban remained in place in Buffalo, the region’s most populous city, as well as many of the immediate suburbs. Mr Poloncarz said much of Buffalo was “impassable” to drivers and he did not expect conditions to change during the day.
The snow is expected to end tomorrow morning, with between four and eight inches more expected in parts of the region, mostly concentrated north of the city during the day before moving south overnight, said Jon Hitchcock, a meteorologist. at the National Weather Service in Buffalo.
The snow is predicted to be “very fluffy,” he added, and with very little wind in the forecast, the Buffalo region shouldn’t expect the same level of blizzard-like conditions as it did over the weekend.
“We’ll have more snow, but it’s much less of an impact than what we’ve had,” he said.
Weather officials were conducting counts to gauge the impact of the storm. Mr. Hitchcock said about 18 inches fell at the Weather Service office.
More than 12,000 customers were without power in Erie County. Mr Poloncarz said electricity “may not be restored until Tuesday” due to damage to utilities from the storm.