Deadly blizzard leaves nearly 50 dead across US

Buffalo: Emergency crews in New York were scrambling Monday to rescue marooned residents from what authorities called the "blizzard of the century," a relentless storm that has left nearly 50 people dead across the United States and caused Christmas travel chaos.

Blizzard conditions persist in parts of the US Northeast, the stubborn remnants of a massive sprawl of extreme weather that gripped the country over several days, causing widespread power outages, travel delays and at least 49 deaths across nine states, according to official figures.

In New York state, authorities have described ferocious conditions, particularly in Buffalo, with hours-long whiteouts, bodies being discovered in vehicles and under snow banks, and emergency personnel going "car to car" searching for more motorists -- alive or dead.

Buffalo residents hovered around space heaters, hunted for cars buried in snow drifts and looked for more victims Monday, after 28 people died in one of the worst weather-related disasters ever to hit western New York. The rest of the United States also was reeling from the ferocious winter storm, with at least another two dozen deaths reported in other parts of the country. Up to 9 more inches of snow (23 centimeters) could fall in some areas of western New York through Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

"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. President Joe Biden said his prayers were with the victims' families, and offered federal assistance Monday to the hard-hit

state.