The death toll from the blizzard rises over the United States and the authorities are engaged in a `war` with nature

Weather of Arabia - The death toll in Buffalo, New York, rose to 28, and thousands are still without electricity amid a violent winter storm that swept North America, while the death toll rose across the United States to at least 62 people in weather-related accidents.

The winter storm also forced the cancellation of thousands of flights, including about 4,700 on Tuesday morning alone, while thousands of travelers were stranded at airports across the country.

And in Buffalo, a state official said military police are being called in to help manage traffic in the city, where the driving ban remains in effect.

At a news conference on Tuesday, officials in Erie County, New York - which includes Buffalo - said the death toll is expected to rise as search and rescue operations continue, after the storm is the worst of a lifetime for residents.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration allowing federal support for New York State. Neighboring New Jersey also sent emergency services to New York state to provide more assistance.

'Like a war zone'

New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed her shock at what she saw during a reconnaissance tour Sunday in the city, and Hochul described the matter as "a war zone, and the sight of cars on both sides of the roads is shocking," noting the threat of snow accumulated by more than two meters to homes and the residents' suffering from power outages.

"It's a war with Mother Nature," she said. "It is definitely the storm of the century," she told reporters.

New York officials said that emergency personnel had to move from one car to another in vehicles parked on the sides of the roads in search of survivors of the storm, and sometimes they found bodies in cars and on the snow, including those who were trying to flee south to escape the winter, but they died. in the storm.

Some of the deaths have died from cardiac arrest while shoveling snow, an official said. The state of Buffalo issued a "smart shovel" warning, notifying people that excessive exertion from shoveling snow can cause heart attacks or back injuries. He added that while three additional deaths had been confirmed by Tuesday morning, two deaths reported earlier were deemed "not related to the storm."

Severe weather dropped temperatures in 48 US states to below freezing over the weekend.

Over the weekend, an estimated 250,000 homes and businesses experienced power outages, though power has been steadily restored. However, tens of thousands of people remained without power on Tuesday, including about 22,000 in Ohio.

The US Weather Service said it expects temperatures to return to normal seasonal levels "by the middle of next week."

It added in its latest forecast forecast that the weather "will continue to cause dangerous travel conditions locally over the next two days."