US President declares emergency in New York due to severe winter storm

US President Joe Biden has declared an emergency in the state of New York due to a severe winter storm. According to a White House statement, the President has declared that an emergency exists in the State of New York and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a severe winter storm. It said, the action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures.

Earlier reports said at least 12 states, namely Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin reported a total of 50 deaths. The city of Buffalo in northeastern New York state had the most casualties, with more than a meter of snow falling over the weekend.

The storm stretching from Canada to the Mexican border has killed 56 people. In New York, particularly in Buffalo, authorities said bodies were discovered inside vehicles and from under snow banks, as emergency officials went from car to car to search for more survivors.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled amid howling winds and sub-zero temperatures. Roadways remained littered with cars, buses, ambulances, tow trucks and even plows buried beneath towering drifts, complicating efforts to clear snow-blanketed streets and reach stranded residents in need of medical care.