US snow storm covers houses in ice as people struggle to dig out after deadly blizzards
Houses encased in thick ice have been revealed in drone video of Lake Erie – as people in North America struggle to dig out after deadly blizzards.
The frozen houses in Ontario took the brunt of the storms as they directly face the Canadian side of the lake.
An icy white blanket – which from a distance looks like icing on a cake – covers the entire front of the Fort Erie properties.
At least 65 people have died as a result of the extreme weather, with the region in and around Buffalo, New York state, emerging as ground zero for an Arctic deep freeze.
Confirmed storm-related deaths in the counties of Erie and Niagara counties rose to 32 on Tuesday, officials said.
Flood warnings have been issued for later this week as the snow and ice thaws, and with rain also forecast.
Large parts of North America have been battling a huge bomb cyclone – the deadliest US storm for at least two generations – since last week.
The scene near Fort Erie, Ontario. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
While snowfall has started to taper off, emergency services are continuing to locate and remove vehicles left behind under mounds of snow and drifts several feet high.
Some of the dead were found frozen in cars, or died in medical emergencies such as cardiac arrest while shovelling snow, Erie County Executive Mark Polocarz said.
“Please, please, do not drive in the city of Buffalo, unless you are emergency personnel,” he said, explaining that “too many people” have been ignoring a driving ban that is currently in place.
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“We’re recovering from the worst storm I’ve ever seen, certainly in terms of death from mother nature’s wrath,” he added.
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Military police called in to help
In and around Buffalo, up to 52 inches (1.32m) of snow fell over four days, and a bit more was expected by Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The county has called in 100 military police from the state National Guard as well as officers from New York City to help
manage traffic and enforce road restrictions.
But the situation is not expected to get better any time soon, with the NWS now forecasting a rapid thaw later this week, along with rain, which could cause flooding and difficult conditions.
“It’ll be warming up soon. By Thursday, the high will be 8C. By Saturday it’ll be 12C,” meteorologist Bob Oravec said.
Roads are in the process of being cleared to allow for the melted snow to drain properly, with front-loader tractors brought in to shovel it into dump trucks, which will discard it elsewhere.
Mr Poloncarz said it would take two days to open one lane in every city street.
Thousands still without electricity
Not only are the roads affected, but some 4,500 customers were still without electricity on Tuesday due to the storm, according to Mr Polocarz.
President Joe Biden has authorised federal support to help those left without power.
Flights have also been impacted with Southwest Airlines, who are based in Dallas, Texas, forced to cancel more than 12,000 flights since Friday due to the adverse conditions.
On Tuesday, it cancelled more than two-thirds of its 4,000 scheduled flights, accounting for more than 90% of all US airline cancellations, tracking website FlightAware showed.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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