Death toll from America’s big freeze rises over 50
It has been described as the worst storm in a lifetime
The bomb cyclone that has brought freezing temperatures and up to six feet of snow to North America has caused at least 50 deaths across the US and Canada.
The US recorded 46 fatalities and four more people died on Christmas Eve after a bus rolled over on icy roads in British Columbia, Canada, reports Mail Online.
The deep freeze is linked to 18 deaths in the state of New York, particularly in Buffalo where the 'lake-effect' - when frigid air moves over warmer lake waters and creates a freezing spray - has been lethal.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the city of Buffalo is like a 'war zone' and that some people ended up being stuck in their cars for two days.
Temperatures dropped as low as -50F (-45C) in Montana and in Des Moines, Iowa, it felt like -37F (-38C), which meant people could suffer frostbite in less than five minutes.
The storm is expected to claim more lives after trapping residents inside houses and knocking out power - as some areas prepare for upwards of 30 inches of snow by Tuesday.
More than 55 million people are still under weather alerts and on Christmas Day, New York Governor Hochul held a press conference where she described the blizzard as 'the most devastating storm in Buffalo's long, storied history' of horrific storms.
'It is devastating. It is going to a war zone,' Hochul said Sunday. In Buffalo, some of those who died were found in cars and others were found on the street in snowbanks, according to Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County.
'There may be more,' Poloncarz said. 'I don't want to say this is going to be it, because that would be fallacy for me to say that.
'Because we know there are people stuck in cars for more than two days. And there are people in homes that are below freezing temperatures.'
More than 200,000 people across several eastern states woke up without power on Christmas morning and many more had their holiday travel plans upended, although the five-day-long storm featuring blizzard conditions and ferocious winds showed signs of easing.
It forced the cancellation of nearly 3,000 US flights on Sunday, in addition to some 3,500 scrapped on Saturday and nearly 6,000 Friday, according to tracking website Flightaware.com.
More than 1,000 US flights had already been canceled just hours into Monday, the website reported.
Story by The New Nation