US winter storm kills nearly 50, 15,000 flights cancelled

New York: The historic winter storm that swept across the US Northeast has killed at least 27 people nationwide. The blizzard kept the country under a tight grip for several days and caused widespread outages.

The extreme weather forced the cancellation of over 15,000 flights over a few days and 1,700 were cancelled on Monday itself, reported AFP.

Western New York was particularly hard hit and the death toll reached 25 on Monday.

According to the National Weather Service, Buffalo city is buried under around several feet of snow. Emergency services have collapsed in the US city. In Erie County where Buffalo is located, a blizzard is still going on.

Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz told the media that it is the worst storm probably in the history of the city. The death toll in Erie is likely to surpass that of the infamous blizzard of 1977 when nearly 30 people died.

Hundreds of people have been rescued from snow-covered cars and homes without electricity. Authorities said more people remain trapped. On Saturday, nearly 1.7 million people were without access to power in the cold weather. Now, there are still some 50,000 people without electricity. With one substation buried under 18 feet of snow, Erie County is not expected to regain power till Tuesday.

Several busiest transport routes are also closed due to road ice and white-out conditions. Drivers are being warned to not take to the roads.