The United States was slowly emerging from a historic storm on Wednesday that killed at least 59 people, but its impact continued to be felt in the Buffalo area and at airports, with hundreds of thousands of passengers having their flights cancelled.
Heavy snowfall, icy winds, sudden drops in temperature… Even in regions accustomed to harsh winters, bad weather has wreaked havoc, to the point that rescue teams have sometimes been stranded.
National Guard door to door
On Christmas, the cold was felt to varying degrees in much of the country, including Texas and Florida, which are not used to such weather conditions. The latter improved on Wednesday, with rising temperatures.
But “as temperatures rise, we expect snow melt and possible flooding from the rapid melt,” said Mark Poloncarz, an Erie County official.
Water pumps, generators and sandbags were ready for distribution. On Wednesday, the National Guard was going door-to-door in areas where power had not yet been restored, to make sure residents were safe, Mark Poloncarz said.
The driving ban that remains in effect in Buffalo is expected to be lifted Thursday morning with most roads clear, the city’s mayor, Byron Brown, said on CNN on Wednesday.
Serial flight cancellations
In recent days, some have criticized the county’s announced storm response, arguing that this ban should have been enacted sooner.
“I don’t know if anything would have changed, but it was my decision and I take full responsibility,” Mark Poloncarz reacted.
At airports, including Denver, Chicago and Baltimore, disruptions continued. At issue: serial flight cancellations around Christmas weekend.
But while the pace of most airlines had returned to normal, one, Southwest Airlines, was still dealing with a service debacle. Of the roughly 2,800 flights canceled Wednesday, more than 2,500 were operated by Southwest, according to the FlightAware website.
Source: BFM TV
