‘Please, I’m begging, stay home’: US snow storm deaths rise – as some die shovelling snow
Military police are going to guard major intersections in the US city of Buffalo after residents continued to drive through deep snow despite local officials begging them not to.
At least 64 people have now died in the bomb cyclone – the deadliest US storm for at least two generations.
A further two inches of snow is predicted to fall by the end of Tuesday in Erie County, which includes Buffalo and its 275,000 residents.
“Please, please, do not drive in the city of Buffalo, unless you are emergency personnel,” County Executive Mark Poloncarz said during a news conference.
“Too many people are ignoring the ban,” he added, describing the storm as “the worst probably in our lifetime”.
Mr Poloncarz told reporters: “I have been advised that 100 military police are being brought in as well as additional troops from the New York State Police Department.”
They will be situated at entrances to the city and at major intersections, stopping drivers from getting through.
“Please, I’m begging, stay home,” Mr Poloncarz added, saying that ensuring access for emergency response vehicles was a major priority.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s office announced seven additional storm-related deaths on Tuesday, bringing the city’s total to 27. At least another seven people perished in the suburbs.
Bodies have been found in cars and homes – and some people have died while shovelling snow.
A further four people died in Canada after a bus rolled over on icy roads in British Columbia.
Some people have died because ambulances could not reach them in time to respond to medical emergencies.
Buffalo has been heavily hit by the storm
A previous blizzard, in 1977, killed as many as 29 people in the region.
Tuesday’s snow may be the last, National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Oravec said.
“It’ll be warming up soon. By Thursday the high will be 8C. By Saturday it’ll be 12C.”
President Joe Biden has authorised federal support for New York state, where tens of thousands of people have been left without power.
Some people have been stranded in their cars for more than two days, with emergency services struggling to reach them, Mr Poloncarz said.
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Buffalo Bills players and staff returned to Buffalo to find their vehicles buried in deep snow following a blizzard.
Read more:
Life on the road as deep-freeze conditions hit New York State
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has called the storm “one for the ages”.
It and another big snowstorm just over a month ago have brought almost as much snow as the area would expect during the whole winter, she added.
At one point, Buffalo was getting between two and three inches of snow an hour.
On Monday, almost 4,000 flights were cancelled, according to the tracking site FlightAware, aggravated by cancellations at Southwest Airlines, 70% of whose flights were not running as scheduled.
Tens of thousands of homes and businesses have been left without power.
Jim Dale, senior meteorologist at British Weather Services, told Sky News: “I was going to say this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I think we’re probably going to see these kinds of events a little bit more than that.
“In this instance, this is all to do with the dislocation of the Arctic polar vortex. So that means basically polar air channelling southwards.
“We saw it coming before it arrived. But the actual transition in terms of going from what you might call a mild situation to an absolute freeze happened in some states within an hour so you went down from say 10 to 15 degrees down to -20 very quickly.”
Former US president Joe Biden has prostate cancer, his office has said.
The statement said Mr Biden, who left the White House in January, is reviewing options for treatment with his physicians.
It read: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
File pic: Reuters
According to Cancer Research UK, a Gleason score of 9 means the cancerous cells “look very abnormal” and the disease is “likely to grow quickly”.
A source familiar with Mr Biden and his family’s thinking has told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that the former president is considering “multiple treatment options” – including hormone treatment for the cancer.
They added he is at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and that as of now, it is unclear where the former president will be treated.
Mr Biden, 82, was the oldest person to ever serve as president, with concerns about his health raised regularly during his campaign for re-election last year.
After a poor debate against Donald Trump in June, he withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris.
In February 2023, he had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
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A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
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