Buffalo blizzard – live: At least 27 killed as more snow forecast on Tuesday

President Joseph R Biden, Jr called Governor Kathy Hochul to offer the full force of the Federal government in support of the people of New York as the state grapples with the impacts of a historic winter storm. The President shared that his and the First Lady’s prayers are with the people of New York and all those who lost loved ones. He expressed his gratitude to the Governor for her leadership and to the National Guard, law enforcement, and first responders for their tireless work. The President relayed that he has directed his team to respond immediately to any request the Governor makes for Federal assistance.

Up to nine more inches of snow (23 centimeters) could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday, the National Weather Service has forecast.

“This is not the end yet,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, calling the blizzard “the worst storm probably in our lifetime,” even for an area accustomed to punishing snow.

Some people, he noted, were stranded in their cars for more than two days.

At least 27 people died in one of the worst weather-related disasters in New York as a strong blizzard paralysed the region over the Christmas weekend.

Up to nine more inches of snow could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Hundreds of families in western New York are struggling to find food, medicine and water after a historic snowstorm blocked roads, and cut off electricity and water supply.

Major supermarkets and pharmacies announced the temporary shutdown of stores after a fierce snowstorm dumped 4 feet of snowfall since storm Elliott took shape on Friday.

“There are no stores open. It’s whatever you can grab,” Scott McCandless, 54, who lives in Orchard Park, a suburb southeast of Buffalo, told NBC.

He said he gave up after driving at least 7 miles in his car to find nothing open as groceries dwindled at home.

An Arctic blast is sweeping the United States, impacting swathes of the country this holiday season with a miserable mix of dangerous cold, blinding snow squalls and flash freezing.

The powerful winter storm will produce widespread, disruptive and potentially crippling impacts across the central and eastern United States between now and Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service warned.

Forecasters are also warning of the potential for a “bomb cyclone” – but what does this mean?

The death toll from an “epic, once-in-a-lifetime” storm that has wrought havoc across the United States rose to at least 56, with the Buffalo area of New York state being one of the hardest-hit places.

More than a million households were without power on Christmas Day according to poweroutage.us, while the travel plans of tens of thousands of people were disrupted by cancelled flights and dangerous roads.

Freezing conditions and power outages had Buffalonians scrambling to get to anywhere with heat amid what Hochul called the longest sustained blizzard conditions ever in the city. But with streets under a thick blanket of white, that wasn’t an option for people like Jeremy Manahan, who charged his phone in his parked car after almost 29 hours without electricity.

“There’s one warming shelter, but that would be too far for me to get to. I can’t drive, obviously, because I’m stuck,” Mr Manahan said. “And you can’t be outside for more than 10 minutes without getting frostbit.”

Ditjak Ilunga of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was on his way to visit relatives in Hamilton, Ontario, for Christmas with his daughters Friday when their SUV was trapped in Buffalo. Unable to get help, they spent hours with the engine running, buffeted by wind, and nearly buried in snow.

By 4am on Saturday, their fuel nearly gone, Mr Ilunga made a desperate choice to risk the howling storm to reach a nearby shelter. He carried six-year-old Destiny on his back while 16-year-old Cindy clutched their Pomeranian puppy, following his footprints through drifts.

“If I stay in this car I’m going to die here with my kids,” Mr Ilunga recalled thinking. He cried when the family walked through the shelter doors. “It’s something I will never forget in my life.”

Thousands of people were stranded at airports, faced delays and waited in queues as severe weather conditions snarled US commercial air traffic amid the holiday season.

Southwest airlines was one of the worst impacted as it cancelled nearly 70 per cent of the scheduled flights on Monday, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.

More than 3,800 US airline flights were cancelled yesterday, including 2,800 operated by Southwest, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.

Delays were reported for more than 7,100 US flight departures and arrivals overall, with several hundred by Southwest.

“Challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,” Southwest said in a statement, citing “consecutive days of extreme winter weather.”

The US Transportation Department said late yesterday it would examine the large number of Southwest Airlines cancelled and delayed flights in recent days to determine if they were in the airline’s control, calling them “unacceptable”.

Commercial airline traffic has been upended since last week as an Arctic blast coupled with a massive winter storm dubbed Elliott took shape over the Midwest and swept over much of the United States in the lead-up to the Christmas holiday weekend.

The resulting surge in cancellations and delays, coupled with long lines and missing luggage at airports, spoiled wintertime vacation plans for countless US airline customers during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

The death toll from an “epic, once-in-a-lifetime” storm that wrought havoc across the United States rose to at least 50 on Monday, with the Buffalo area of New York state, at the edge of Lake Erie near the Canadian border, one of the hardest-hit places.

Winter Storm Elliott brought temperatures as low as -50F (-45C) across a vast swathe of North America from the Great Lakes near Canada to Arizona.

Bevan Hurley reports on how events unfolded this weekend.

Local looters robbed businesses in Buffalo over the weekend as deadly blizzard conditions kept law enforcement stuck.

Buffalo mayor Byron Brown slammed looters for taking the opportunity of a disaster, saying “they are the lowest of the low” of the opportunistic crooks.

“I don’t know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror,” he said.

Visuals on local TV stations showed some people taking away boxes full of groceries from supermarkets with their windows smashed and merchandise damaged.

“People who are out looting when people are losing their lives in this harsh winter storm is just absolutely reprehensible,” Mr Brown said.

“They’re not looting foods and medicines, they’re just looting items that they want. So these aren’t even people in distress,” the mayor added.

“These are people who are taking advantage of a national disaster and the suffering of many in our community to take what they want.”