The weeklong cold snap that’s blanketed much of the nation has taken nearly 50 lives, officials said, as 95 million Americans lived under winter weather warnings on Friday.
There have been 47 people who have died due to winter and other cold-related conditions since Jan. 12, local and state officials have told NBC News.
Sixteen of those deaths have happened in Tennessee, nine in Oregon, six in Illinois, five in Washington state and Mississippi, three in New York state and one each in Arkansas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Residents of western New York have been buried under snow for several days now.
Michael Santoro, who lives just south of Buffalo in Hamburg, New York, said he’s been spending nearly five hours a day in his driveway plowing and shoveling to keep up with the relentless snowfall this week.
“Any one of these snow mounds could be a car,” he said, gesturing to a car in his driveway completely engulfed by snow. “You have to really be careful when you’re driving through here.”
Cities from from West Virginia to southern New England could get between 1 to 5 inches of snowfall on Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Austin Mullen and Courtney Brogle contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
