• The death toll from a severe winter storm that gripped most of the US increased to at least 61.
• Two deaths have been recorded in the western New York area that bore the brunt of the historic storm.
• The storm also brought extremely chilly temperatures to regions and wreaked havoc at airports.

On Thursday, officials reported that the death toll from a severe winter storm that gripped most of the United States during Christmas increased to at least 61.

Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County, stated that two further deaths have been recorded in the western New York area that bore the brunt of the historic storm, bringing the total to 39.

Erie County contains the city of Buffalo, where the majority of the fatalities occurred.

Poloncarz reported that 17 of the 39 dead were discovered outside, 11 were in homes, four were in vehicles, four died while shovelling or snow blowing, and three were unable to be reached in time by emergency personnel.

In the midwestern state of Ohio, storm-related car accidents resulted in nine fatalities, with scattered fatalities in at least six other states.

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New York officials had expressed fear about flooding due to rising temperatures and melting snow, but the county executive stated that “it does not appear like it will be bad.”

“Thankfully, it appears that flooding will be minimal,” Poloncarz said.

He stated that power had been restored to all residents of the county.

As Buffalo dragged itself out of the once-in-a-generation storm, Poloncarz called the city’s response “embarrassing” as criticism of the authorities’ response mounted.

For example, a travel ban was not imposed in Buffalo until Friday at 9:30 a.m., when many people were already on their way to work.

The storm also brought extremely chilly temperatures to regions like Texas and Florida and wreaked havoc at airports, delaying or cancelling thousands of flights.

Southwest Airlines, which cancelled more than 15,000 flights in eight days due to a breakdown in its scheduling systems, expects its operations to return to normal gradually by Friday.

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