Cone Dawson Asks New York City Customers to Conserve Energy during the Snow Storm of May 11, 2009, in Erie County, Ont.
The storm had an unusual duration, as it struck large areas and raged all day on Friday and Saturday. Howling winds drove mounds of snow more than six 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, Mr. Poloncarz said.
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 snowplows 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 on Saturday.
Some people were still trapped in cars after darkness fell on Saturday. 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 the Buffalo area, as of 4 p.m. Saturday, there were at least 25,000 customers without electricity. 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 saved at least 50 people from homes and cars between Friday and Saturday, including a small child, according to Brian Britzzalaro.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/24/us/winter-storm-snow-weather/con-edison-asks-new-york-city-customers-to-conserve-energy
The New York City, Maryland, Santa Claus, and Houston, Fla., Christmas Day eveloped in frigid air after a massive storm
The struggle was complicated by drivers ignoring travel bans and becoming stuck or stranded, blocking roads cleared for emergency traffic, Mr. Poloncarz said.
County officials urged people to stay put, even without heat or power, and asked the National Guard to assist with rescue operations. Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York said that the airport is closed until Monday.
“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 neighbor. “But you can’t get used to this.”
Americans in dozens of states on 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, which was packing high winds and a collision of air mass, caused travel plans to be altered for tens of thousands of people and made Christmas without heat, electricity or family members seem like a distant memory.
The massive weather system that swept across North America and brought frigid air to Canada plunged the temperatures into the single digits in central, southern and eastern states. 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, W.Va., where it bottomed out at minus 9.
The possibility of leaving home for Christmas was facing residents of the beachfront areas in New York City, after the storm surge caused heavy flooding in the Rockaways.
At least 17 deaths were attributed to the storm, including a dozen in traffic accidents across four states. The woman was killed by a tree in Castleton. In the Chicago area, a 54-year-old man died of hypothermia, a spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner said. A homeless person died trying to set a fire to keep warm in Houston, according to the mayor.
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.
After a day without power, Shantel Moncrief and her husband attempted to sleep in their apartment in south Nashville on Friday night layered in sweaters and blankets. They moved into their car at 2 a.m. and then went to her mother’s house at 6 a.m.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/24/us/winter-storm-snow-weather/con-edison-asks-new-york-city-customers-to-conserve-energy
Con Edison asks new york city customers to conserve energy: Frank Ellis, a New York City employee, and his family in a snowstorm
Nearly 8,000 U.S. flights were disrupted on 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.
Travelers are going to spend Christmas Eve at the airport after 50 flights were canceled at La Guardia Airport in New York.
The Ellis family got to the airport at 3:39 a.m. with their children. Hours later, their flight was canceled, and each member of the family was rebooked on a different flight, said Mr. Ellis.
The family rented a car so they could drive to their home in Nashville. Mr Ellis said he didn’t mind paying the hefty cost.
Thousands of utility workers and plows were out in Western New York for a second night trying to restore power and roads after the darkness fell. With snow forecast to continue, and travel bans still in effect, stores were empty of last-minute shoppers, and streets mostly silent.
Frank Anderson was stuck in the snow for the second time since wrapping up his work as a prison guard when he was stuck in a white pickup on Saturday.
He had his truck stuck on Hertel Avenue and his tires were spinning on ice as he tried to get back to his wife and three children. He was about “a mile from home” in the suburb of Tonawanda.
“I’m going to miss Christmas with my people,” he said, the truck and heat still running as he sat inside in the middle of the unplowed road packed with feet of snow.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/24/us/winter-storm-snow-weather/con-edison-asks-new-york-city-customers-to-conserve-energy
New Zealand Environment Minister James Shaw tweeted: “This is climate change, and I’m sure someone in Auckland has been missing for a long time”
Euan Ward , Eliza Fawcett , Isabella Grullón Paz , Bob Chiarito, Jamie McGee, Ellen Yan, April Rubin, Sharon Dunten and Maria Jimenez Moya contributed reporting.
The New Zealand weather authority issued a red heavy rain warning for the area on Monday and it is expected to last for a few days.
Luis Fernandes, a meteorologist at the MetService, said the heavy rainfall would also put Auckland at risk of land slips, which are similar to landslides.
“When you have a significant rainfall event like this, rivers can rise quickly, and roads can literally fall away or become covered and can cut off communities,” he said.
The city of Wellington received an equal amount of rain in a single day, and it was the wettest day on record.
Extreme weather will become deadlier and more frequent because of the climate crisis, according to scientists. On Sunday night, New Zealand Climate Change Minister James Shaw underscored the link, tweeting “This is climate change” in a post thanking those assisting with flood relief efforts.
Due to the La Nia climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean, the north of New Zealand’s North Island is getting more rain than normal.
New Zealand police said on Sunday that the body of a man who had been declared missing is believed to have been found.
The body was located by a Drones in the Onewhero area south of Auckland, which is about one kilometer from where he went missing.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/asia/auckland-new-zealand-floods-intl-hnk/index.html
A New Zealand Firefighter’s Body found in a Flood and Landslide by a Cyclone at 8pm Tuesday
“Obviously there were a number of homes damaged by flooding but also extensive earth movements,” he told public broadcaster TVNZ. He said there were 350 people who needed emergency accommodations.
The airport said that over 2,000 people stayed in the terminals during the night due to the flooding. Domestic flights resumed Saturday but the international terminal was not operational until Sunday.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand authorities expect to make the final rescues Wednesday after a cyclone brought extensive flooding and landslides that claimed at least two lives.
The body of a volunteer firefighter was recovered from a raging torrent of muddy water that engulfed a house near the city of Auckland, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said. A fellow firefighter was critically injured by the same landslide.
A woman was also killed by a landslide in the Hawke’s Bay area, he said. The third body was found late Tuesday on the shore at the east coast town of Napier, but authorities have not attributed death to the weather.
Authorities said that there was three times more rain over Monday night than usually falls in the month of February.
The North Island Flood Victims’ Area “Caught in the act”: The survivors of a devastating hurricane and the first national emergency
More than 300 people were rescued Tuesday from that flooded bay area on the North Island east coast, including 60 stranded on a single roof, McAnulty said. There were 25 rescues on Wednesday of individuals and family groups.
He did not know if the death toll from the disaster would rise above two. “It wouldn’t surprise me, but I can’t say that there’s an expectation” of more fatalities, McAnulty said. “This has been a serious event. There are rescues that are still happening.
There is a long path ahead of us as we try to deal with the extensive damage to our homes, businesses, roads and bridges. “This is a significant disaster and it is going to take many weeks for those areas most effected to recover.”
A national emergency was declared Tuesday, enabling the government to support affected regions and provide additional resources. The first two national emergency were declared.