By Michael D. Regan, Kimiko De Freytas Tamura and Jenna Russell

BUFFALO, New York — In Buffalo, one of the snowiest cities in the country, residents pride themselves on weathering extreme winter conditions. But the city and region were left reeling from a fierce and sprawling storm that pummelled parts of the country last week and devastated western New York, where hundreds were stranded in their cars and stuck in homes encased in 6-foot drifts Saturday (24).

At least three people died in Erie County, two of them because emergency responders could not reach them in time, as whiteout conditions left roads so choked with snow that even snowploughs could not clear them.

“This may turn out to be the worst storm in our community’s history, surpassing the famed Blizzard of ’77 for its ferocity,” Mark Poloncarz, the Erie County executive, said Saturday.

Emergency workers were still rescuing people from cars as darkness fell Saturday — some of them trapped since Friday (23). As the snow continued falling, some residents prepared to spend another night at home without power, with no safe way to reach shelter elsewhere.

In one case, a doctor had to talk a woman through her labour on the phone, giving instructions to her sister on how to deliver the baby.

More than 25,000 customers in the Buffalo area remained without electricity as of 4 p.m. Saturday, Poloncarz said. Utility crews were expected to fix some power substations by Saturday night, but he cautioned that some may not be restored until late Monday. Emergency workers made at least 50 rescues from homes and cars between Friday and Saturday, including a small child, said Chief Brian Britzzalaro of the Erie County Sheriff’s Department.

The struggle was complicated by drivers ignoring travel bans and becoming stuck or stranded, blocking roads cleared for emergency traffic, Poloncarz said.

The storm’s unusual duration fuelled its devastating impact, as it struck highly populated areas, and raged all day Friday and Saturday. Howling winds drove mounds of snow more than 6 feet high, burying front porches and parked vehicles. In the hardest-hit areas — including Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Lancaster and Williamsville — two-thirds of emergency responders became stuck themselves and were unable to reach people, Poloncarz said.

County officials urged people to stay put, even without heat or power, and asked the National Guard to assist with rescue operations. Buffalo-Niagara International Airport is closed until Monday, said Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York.

As the cold deepened and urgency grew, emergency workers resorted to using snowploughs to transport some residents to shelters, Hochul said.

“Everyone is like, ‘Oh, you’re from Buffalo, you’re used to this,’” said Tommy Bellonte, 37, who briefly emerged from his Buffalo home Saturday morning to check on a neighbour. “But you can’t get used to this.”

Americans in dozens of states Saturday faced the frigid aftermath of the powerful, four-day storm that knocked out power to 1.5 million homes and businesses at its peak. The potent weather system, a “bomb cyclone” packing high winds intensified by a collision of air masses, upended travel plans for tens of thousands, forcing many to spend Christmas without heat, electricity or the company of family members.

Temperatures plunged into the single digits in central, southern and eastern states as the massive weather system swept north into Canada and frigid arctic air settled in behind it. The cold set records for Christmas Eve in some places across the country, including in Baltimore, where the temperature plummeted to 8 degrees, and in Bluefield, West Virginia, where it bottomed out at minus 9.

On Saturday, the fourth day of the storm, millions remained under winter storm or blizzard warnings. Half a million homes and businesses were still in the dark up and down the East Coast at midday Saturday, according to the website poweroutage.us; by day’s end, the total had declined to 320,000. Maine was the hardest hit, with 162,000 customers without service.

Some residents of beachfront areas in New York City also faced the prospect of leaving home for Christmas, after Friday’s storm surge caused heavy flooding in the Rockaways, swamping basement apartments, said Donovan Richards Jr., the Queens borough president.

At least 17 deaths were attributed to the storm, including a dozen in traffic accidents across four states. In Castleton, Vermont, a 51-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree, local police confirmed. In the Chicago area, a 54-year-old man died of hypothermia, a spokesperson for the Cook County medical examiner said. In Houston, a homeless person died trying to set up a fire to keep warm, according to the mayor, Sylvester Turner.

As the cold tightened its grip, cities and towns opened warming shelters in fire stations and school gymnasiums, and residents sought shelter, some after spending Friday night in unheated homes, huddled under blankets and clustered around fireplaces in the dark.

Nearly 8,000 US flights were disrupted Saturday because of the storm, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight data. And many with plans to travel by car were thwarted by icy roads, highway closures and travel bans.

At LaGuardia Airport in New York, more than 50 flights were cancelled Saturday morning, and travellers prepared to spend Christmas Eve at the airport or in nearby hotels.

Misty and Dan Ellis arrived at the airport for check-in at 3 a.m. with their teenage children. Hours later, their flight was cancelled, and each member of the family was rebooked on a different flight, Dan Ellis said.

The family decided to rent a car instead and drive 14 hours to their home in Nashville. The cost would be hefty, Ellis said, but he did not mind paying it.

“We’ll be home, together,” he said, “for Christmas.”

As darkness fell in western New York on Saturday and temperatures crept even lower, thousands of utility workers and plough drivers faced another long night of work to restore power and clear roads. With snow forecast to continue, and travel bans still in effect, stores were empty of last-minute shoppers, and streets mostly silent.

For those still out in the perilous conditions, home seemed a world away, however close.

-New York Times