The Niagara Falls froze in parts yesterday as much of America remained in the grip of the deadly winter storm raging for the past week.
Although the heavy snow eased, the death toll climbed to at least 65 and was set to rise higher as rescue teams continued to dig out snowdrifts, stranded cars and houses encased in ice.
In the worst-hit areas in Buffalo, western New York state, where more than 30 people have died in the most severe winter storm for a generation, the search for the missing went on as the region emerged from its deep freeze. At nearby Niagara Falls, which was enveloped in a freezing mist, blocks of ice had formed at the base.
Emergency teams were still struggling to restore power to homes in Buffalo. At the peak of the storm over the weekend more than 1.7 million properties across the country were without power.
Tales of desperate rescues, heroism and tragedy continue to emerge. One Buffalo couple took care of the body of a stranger after she collapsed and died outside their home. Carolyn Eubanks, 63, had relied on an oxygen machine that failed when the power to her home went out. With emergency teams unable to respond to the volume of calls, her son, Antwaine Parker, tried to rescue her, but his mother collapsed as he led her to a car through the driving snow on Christmas Eve.
“She’s like, ‘I can’t go no further.’ I’m begging her, ‘Mom, just stand up.’ She fell in my arms and never spoke another word,” Parker told the Buffalo News.
He knocked at the doors of nearby houses, desperately seeking help. David Purdy and Cassieopia Layhee answered. There was nothing they could do to save his mother, but the couple kept her body on their living-room floor for a day until it could be retrieved.
“They’re two beautiful people. They didn’t have to let me in,” Parker said. “I had to thank Dave and Cassie, two strangers I’ve never seen in my life, never met.”
As rescue efforts continued, Nathan Marton, Buffalo’s public works commissioner, urged residents to “stay patient and stay off the roads”.
With rain predicted for later in the week and some storm drains still blocked or frozen, officials have warned that the blizzard could give way to flash flooding.
