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'Blizzard of the century': US monster storm death toll passes 50
US Winter Storm: As temperatures plummeted, commuters and some residents fleeing their freezing homes became trapped on highways, unable to be rescued.
The monster storm that killed dozens in the United States over the Christmas weekend continued to inflict misery on New York state and air travelers nationwide Tuesday, as stories emerged of families trapped for days during the "blizzard of the century."
The number of deaths attributed to the winter storm rose to more than 50 after officials confirmed three more fatalities in western New York's Erie County, the epicenter of the crisis.
The police department "expects that number to rise," tweeted Byron Brown, mayor of the lakeside county's biggest city Buffalo -- which has been paralyzed for five days by chest-deep snow banks and power outages.
Kathy Hochul, New York state's governor and a Buffalo native, described the storm aftermath as resembling "a war zone."
"Certainly it is the blizzard of the century," Hochul told reporters Monday.
As temperatures plummeted, commuters and some residents fleeing their freezing homes became trapped on highways, unable to be rescued.
The problem was compounded when some areas were rendered inaccessible to ambulances for dozens of hours and snowplows were unable to perform their job due to the ferocity of the storm -- necessitating rescuers being rescued in certain cases.
The family of one 22-year-old Buffalo resident, Anndel Taylor, said she died in her car after getting stuck on her way home from work.
A video sent by Taylor and posted by her sister shows her vehicle covered up to its windows in snow.
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Emergency responders, who themselves became stuck attempting to rescue her, found her dead 18 hours later, possibly due to carbon monoxide poisoning, her family in North Carolina told local TV station WSOC-TV.
One father described being trapped in his vehicle on the streets of Buffalo with his four young children for 11 hours before being rescued, according to The New York Times.
Zila Santiago, 30, said he kept his engine running to provide some warmth and fed his children some juice found in his trunk.
They were finally rescued at dawn by a passing snowplow.
In a city well-accustomed to snowstorms, some residents were blaming a travel ban they said was enacted too late on Friday morning as contributing to the mayhem.
Buffalo resident Mark Eguliar remained at his workplace, where he was stuck for more than 40 hours.
"Too many people were driving, too many people were not listening to the ban, so the cars were blocking all the roads, making it a lot harder to get home," he said.
