The death toll in New York after the passage of storm Elliot rose to 31

The death toll in New York from the Winter storm Elliot that has affected the United States in recent days rose to 31, according to Marc Poloncarz, chief political officer of Erie County, the most affected in this state.

According to a Poloncarz tweet, 17 people were found on the street, 7 died due to lack of heating, three were found in a vehicle, another three died of heart problems and one because the emergency medical service could not arrive on time. .

“Very sadly, the medical examiner has confirmed another 3 deaths. The total is now 31″, said Poloncarz, who gave a press conference on Tuesday in which he reported that the military and state police are working together to keep people away from the snow-covered roads in Buffalo, the city most affected county, where the highest number of fatalities were recorded, with 27 deaths.

This number in Buffalo could increase as cleanup efforts continue.

According to the county official, some people are violating the driving ban in Buffalo.

The number of deaths already exceeds those that occurred during another storm in 1977, which claimed the lives of 29 people, according to local media.

Poloncarz also indicated that more than 7,000 workers continue their efforts to restore power to Erie homes affected by blackouts caused by Elliot, which left more than 50 dead in the country during the Christmas holidays, most of them in New York. .

Some roads in Erie County were already reopened on Tuesday and the rest are expected to do so on Wednesday, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The eastern and southern United States experienced a rise in temperatures on Tuesday as the storm abated, while another cold front reached the West Coast with snow and rain, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported.

However, despite the end of Elliot, the air chaos continues a few days before another holiday, New Year's, with more than 3,000 flights canceled this Tuesday, according to the Flight Aware portal, leaving thousands of passengers on the ground who had planned travel during the holidays.

The most affected are the users of the southwest airline, which is responsible for 63% of cancellations and whose telephone service lines are saturated.

Federal authorities will open an investigation against southwest Airlines for the number of canceled flights, compared to other carriers.

A day after most US airlines recovered from the storm, southwest grounded another 2,600 East Coast flights until midafternoon. Those flights accounted for more than 80% of the 3,000 canceled trips across the country on Tuesday, according to the Flight Aware tracking service.

The airline also canceled 2,500 flights for Wednesday and nearly 1,400 for Thursday.

At airports served by Southwest, customers waited in long lines hoping to find a seat on another flight. Some tried to rent cars to get to their destinations sooner. Others found places to sleep on the floor. The suitcases were piling up in huge piles.

Conrad Stoll, a retired construction worker from Missouri, was scheduled to fly from Kansas City to Los Angeles for his father's 90th birthday, until his southwest flight was canceled early Tuesday. He said he won't be able to see his 88-year-old mother either.

“I went there in 2019, and she looked at me and said, 'I'm not going to see you again,'” said Stoll, who is 66 years old.

The US government has promised to examine whether southwest is complying with its service plan, according to a tweet from the Department of Transportation, which called the company's cancellations and delays as well as the lack of adequate responses to customers "unacceptable."

US President Joe Biden, for his part, assured in a tweet that his administration was working so that companies "assume their responsibilities."

(With information from EFE)

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The total is now 31″, said Poloncarz, who gave a press conference on Tuesday in which he reported that the military and state police are working together to keep people away from the snow-covered roads in Buffalo, the city most affected county, where the highest number of fatalities were recorded, with 27 deaths.