Winter storm leaves Buffalo and its region reeling. - The New York Times

BUFFALO — In Buffalo, 1 of the snowiest cities successful the country, residents pridefulness themselves connected weathering utmost wintertime conditions. But the metropolis and portion were near reeling from a fierce and sprawling tempest that pummeled parts of the state past week and devastated Western New York, wherever hundreds were stranded successful their cars and stuck successful homes encased successful six-foot drifts connected Saturday.

At slightest 3 radical died successful Erie County, 2 of them due to the fact that exigency responders could not get determination accelerated enough; whiteout conditions near roads truthful choked with snowfall that sometimes adjacent snowplows could not wide them.

“This whitethorn crook retired to beryllium the worst tempest successful our community’s history, surpassing the famed Blizzard of ’77 for its ferocity,” Mark Poloncarz, the Erie County executive, said connected Saturday.

Emergency workers who had already performed dozens of rescues Friday and aboriginal Saturday were inactive retrieving radical from cars arsenic acheronian fell. Some residents prepared to walk different nighttime astatine location without power, with nary harmless mode to scope structure elsewhere.

In 1 case, a doc had to speech a pistillate done her labour connected the phone, giving instructions to her sister connected however to present the baby.

Almost 28,000 customers successful the Buffalo country remained without energy arsenic of 4 a.m. Sunday, according to the website poweroutage.us, which collects accusation connected powerfulness outages. Utility crews had been expected to hole immoderate powerfulness substations by Saturday night, but Mr. Poloncarz cautioned that immoderate whitethorn not beryllium restored until precocious Monday. Officials said blizzard conditions were apt to persist overnight earlier opening to subside Sunday morning. Forecasters said they expected precise debased temperatures — arsenic overmuch arsenic 15 to 25 degrees beneath mean — crossed the eastbound United States connected Christmas Day.

The storm’s antithetic duration fueled its devastating impact, arsenic it struck highly populated areas and raged each time connected Friday and each time Saturday. Howling winds drove mounds of snowfall much than six feet high, burying beforehand porches and parked vehicles. In the hardest-hit areas — including Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Lancaster and Williamsville — two-thirds of exigency responders became stuck themselves and were incapable to scope people, Mr. Poloncarz said.

As the acold deepened and urgency grew, exigency workers resorted to utilizing snowfall plows to transport immoderate residents to shelters, Ms. Hochul said.

“Everyone is like, ‘Oh, you’re from Buffalo, you’re utilized to this,’” said Tommy Bellonte, 37, who concisely emerged from his Buffalo location Saturday greeting to cheque connected a neighbor. “But you can’t get utilized to this.”

Americans successful dozens of states connected Saturday faced the frigid aftermath of the powerful, four-day tempest that knocked retired powerfulness to 1.5 cardinal homes and businesses astatine its peak. The potent upwind system, a “bomb cyclone” packing precocious winds intensified by a collision of aerial masses, upended question plans for tens of thousands, forcing galore to walk Christmas without heat, energy oregon the institution of household members.

Temperatures plunged into the azygous digits successful central, confederate and eastbound states arsenic the immense upwind strategy swept northbound into Canada and frigid Arctic aerial settled successful down it. The acold acceptable records for Christmas Eve successful immoderate places crossed the country, including successful Baltimore, wherever the somesthesia plummeted to 8 degrees, and successful Bluefield, W.Va., wherever it bottomed retired astatine minus 9.

On Saturday, the 4th time of the storm, millions remained nether wintertime tempest oregon blizzard warnings. Half a cardinal homes and businesses were inactive successful the acheronian up and down the East Coast astatine midday Saturday, according to poweroutage.us; by day’s end, the full had declined to 320,000. Maine was the hardest hit, with 162,000 customers without service.

Some residents of beachfront areas successful New York City besides faced the imaginable of leaving location for Christmas, aft Friday’s tempest surge caused dense flooding successful the Rockaways, swamping basement apartments, said Donovan Richards Jr., the Queens borough president.

At slightest 17 deaths were attributed to the storm, including a twelve successful postulation accidents crossed 4 states. In Castleton, Vt., a 51-year-old pistillate was killed by a falling tree, section constabulary confirmed. In the Chicago area, a 54-year-old antheral died of hypothermia, a spokeswoman for the Cook County aesculapian examiner said. In Houston, a stateless idiosyncratic died trying to acceptable up a occurrence to support warm, according to the mayor, Sylvester Turner.

After a time without power, Shantel Moncrief and her hubby tried to slumber successful their flat successful southbound Nashville connected Friday nighttime layered successful sweaters and blankets. Too acold to rest, they moved into their car astatine 2 a.m., and astatine 6 a.m., relocated to her mother’s house.

“We were bundled up,” Ms. Moncrief, 24, said. “It conscionable wasn’t enough.”

Nearly 8,000 U.S. flights were disrupted connected Saturday due to the fact that of the storm, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks formation data. And galore with plans to question by car were thwarted by icy roads, road closures and question bans.

At La Guardia Airport successful New York, much than 50 flights were canceled Saturday morning, and travelers prepared to walk Christmas Eve astatine the airdrome oregon successful adjacent hotels.

Misty and Dan Ellis arrived astatine the airdrome for check-in astatine 3 a.m. with their teenage children. Hours later, their formation was canceled, and each subordinate of the household was rebooked connected a antithetic flight, said Mr. Ellis.

The household decided to rent a car alternatively and thrust 14 hours to their location successful Nashville. The outgo would beryllium hefty, Mr. Ellis said, but helium did not caput paying it.

As acheronian fell successful Western New York connected Saturday and temperatures crept adjacent lower, thousands of inferior workers and plow drivers faced different agelong nighttime of enactment to reconstruct powerfulness and wide roads. With snowfall forecast to continue, and question bans inactive successful effect, stores were bare of last-minute shoppers, and streets mostly silent.

For those inactive retired successful the perilous conditions, location seemed a satellite away, nevertheless close.

Frank Anderson, 50, was stuck successful heavy snowfall successful his ample achromatic pickup motortruck connected Saturday for the 2nd clip since wrapping up his displacement arsenic a situation guard.

Still wearing his enactment overgarment with a New York State Corrections and Community Supervision emblem connected his near sleeve and with lone a spare sweater successful the backmost seat, helium recovered his motortruck jammed on Hertel Avenue, his tires spinning connected ice, arsenic helium tried to marque it backmost to his woman and 3 children successful clip for Christmas. He was astir “a mile from home” successful the suburb of Tonawanda.

“I’m going to miss Christmas with my people,” helium said, the motortruck and vigor inactive moving arsenic helium sat wrong successful the mediate of the unplowed roadworthy packed with feet of snow.

“I americium not going to locomotion home,” helium added. “If I person to slumber here, I’ll beryllium each right.”

Euan Ward, Eliza Fawcett, Isabella Grullón Paz, Bob Chiarito, Jamie McGee, Ellen Yan, April Rubin, Sharon Dunten, Maria Jimenez Moya and Matt Stevens contributed reporting.