Looting of stores and 28 dead from the cold: Christmas horror in upstate New York
As the death toll from the historic winter storm in northwestern New York rose to 28, looting was reported at several stores.
It seems the criminals are taking advantage of the fact that authorities have focused on health and rescue priorities, and in addition to the fact that the mobility of the agents remains limited by the snow. miles from homes and businesses still without powerin some areas there up to 49 inches of accumulated snow and it was still snowing, reported yesterday The New York Times.
“I don’t know how these people can live with themselves, how they can look in the mirror,” he said Monday. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown to journalists. “They are the lowest of the low,” he insisted, referring to opportunistic thieves, he stressed New York Post.
Last night President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in New York to give federal aid to the region of the country most affected by the Christmas climate tragedy. At least 28 people died in the northwestern part of the state after Storm Elliot unleashed its full fury in Buffalo, bringing gale force winds and snow that brought zero visibility conditions and paralyzed emergency response efforts.
In Buffalo some businesses suffered broken windows and damaged and stolen merchandise as snow and ice still lashed the area, the local television station reported NBC News at WRGZ.
Buffalo Police made “some” arrests, according to Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, who added that investigations into other incidents following reports on social media about looting.
The travel ban was still in effect yesterday in the western part of the state. The National Guard was deployed in the area. At a press conference yesterday afternoon, the Governor Kathy Hochul said that state teams had carried out more than 550 rescues since the storm began, reported Fox News.
Weather conditions limited law enforcement’s crime-fighting efforts, with stranded vehicles of travelers clogging roads and emergencies related to snow by diverting police from their normal rounds.
Gramaglia said yesterday that this was changing. “During the storm we have been able to get our patrol officers back [a] their patrol efforts while we have our search and rescue recovery teams go out and do the very difficult work to recover bodies”, said.
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