MADRID, 20 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least 47 people have died in the New York city of Buffalo since the declaration, almost a month ago, of the state of emergency due to an unprecedented winter storm that has left thermal sensations of almost -40ºC.
The cold wave is part of the storm system that devastated a large part of the country, particularly between December 21 and 26, and which has so far left a total of approximately 104 deaths in twenty states in the United States and in British Columbia.
The head of Erie County, Mark Poloncarz, has indicated after providing the balance through his Twitter account that the number of deaths could increase in the next few hours while waiting to receive the toxicology reports of three other fatalities.
What is considered “the most devastating storm in the history of the city”, as described by the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, paralyzed practically all of the services and infrastructure of the city in the middle of the Christmas holiday season, which which ended up accentuating the difficulty of the Emergency services in caring for some of the victims.
In the face of protests from part of the population and from some emergency managers, such as the president of the city’s fire brigade union 32 Vinny Ventresca, who went so far as to accuse the fire commissioner of being on vacation in the midst of the crisis, Poloncarz has charged with blame for some delay in responding to the storm.
“I don’t know if bringing forward the traffic ban would have changed things, but it was my decision and I fully assume responsibility. As JFK said: ‘Victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan,'” he lamented on his Twitter account.
Other officials, such as the Fire Commissioner himself, William Renaldo, have assured that the city was fully prepared to deal with the emergency.