CNN

 — 

Days into a deadly winter storm that bedeviled much of the US with freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall, officials in Buffalo, New York, are focused on life-safety measures, plowing through thick snow to get to stranded drivers and to make way for emergency services.

At least 27 people have died as a result of the storm in New York’s Erie County – many of them in Buffalo, which was buried by up to 43 inches of snow and slammed with fierce blizzard conditions that made for blinding drives over the Christmas weekend.

The storm has drawn comparisons to Buffalo’s famous blizzard of 1977 – a powerful storm that left 23 people dead.

A man clears snow from the front of his home, on Sunday, December 25, 2022, in Buffalo, NY 

This storm, however, was more ferocious than the blizzard of 1977, Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said. “It was just horrendous, and it was horrendous for 24 hours in a row.”

“They recorded blizzard conditions for 37.5 hours. That just doesn’t happen,” CNN Meteorologist Tom Sater said.

Even emergency and recovery vehicles sent out to help have gotten stuck in the snow. Poloncarz said Buffalo was left “impassable in most areas.”

Conditions improved on Monday, making it easier for rescue crews to reach hundreds who were stranded in Buffalo, Buffalo City Mayor Byron Brown said.