Winter storm Elliott death toll rises in Buffalo. Were the deaths preventable?

At least 37 people have died after a blizzard struck the county that comprises Buffalo, New York, a city that sees an average of roughly 95 inches of snow a year.  

Why did so many people die – and what should have been done differently?

Here are three reasons the storm was so deadly. 

Latest updates:Buffalo storm death toll increases; feds open inquiry into power outages

Officials may have waited too long to ban travel

The county didn’t ban road travel until shortly before the storm hit, according to reporting by The Washington Post. The ban was issued around 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Many people were already on the way to work, determined to get their paychecks ahead of the holiday weekend. A lot of people died outside or stuck in their cars.

Some observers also have pointed to insufficient emergency resources, such as staffing challenges, funding cuts and outdated equipment.

In a news conference Wednesday, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz criticized the city's response to the blizzard, calling it "embarrassing." 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is conducting a joint inquiry with North American Reliability Corporation, an Atlanta-based energy compliance nonprofit, investigating the blackouts that hit millions of American households when the storm swept across the U.S. 

USA TODAY reached out to city, county and state officials for comment.

Hurricane-force winds create deadly conditions

The blizzard was predicted and proved to be a once-in-a-generation event. Buffalo hasn't suffered a storm this lethal since at least 1950. Reed Timmer, a veteran meteorologist and storm chaser, described it as "the worst blizzard I have ever covered." 

The storm's devastation was in part the result of its fierce combination of snow, wind and cold temperatures. Also, freezing conditions escalated quickly. 

Wind gusts moving as fast as 79 mph were recorded in the area six minutes after the county travel ban took effect. By then, thousands of people had already lost power.  

Poloncarz called the blizzard “paralyzing." "This was an extreme blizzard, maybe the Category Five of blizzards," he said Wednesday. It was "hurricane-force winds for 24 hours with no visibility, just a few feet.”

Buffalo – one of the country’s snowiest cities – is no stranger to extreme winters. Its residents and officials are accustomed, and perhaps inured, to blizzards. Erie County Sheriff John Garcia acknowledged Tuesday that officials underestimated the threat of the storm.

People weren’t prepared and infrastructure is aging

Buffalo is one of the country’s poorest cities. Many residents lack the infrastructure and amenities needed to withstand such a devastating blizzard. Meanwhile, funding for public facilities has been uneven, and feeble power grids have left people without electricity for days.

Mark Wysocki, a New York State climatologist and meteorologist at Cornell University, said aging infrastructure – both in public facilities and in people’s homes –  may have worsened the storm's death toll. People may have fled their homes because of faulty electricity, for example, only to get stuck in a whiteout without having prepared. 

Wysocki stressed it is important to store blankets, flashlights and hoses in the car during the winter. People who are stuck should run their cars periodically but not continuously to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.

Scientists:Climate change won't make winter storms and blizzards go away.

Before the storm hit Thursday evening, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for the entire state, which remains in place. 

Did climate change play a role?

Experts say climate change has contributed to the growing intensity of extreme weather events such as the Buffalo blizzard. Here are some other historic snow events in the area: 

• In January 1966, 103 inches of snow fell over 4½ days. Fifty inches fell in just one day. 
• In a blizzard in January 1977, it snowed as much as 100 inches over five days, and wind gusts reached up to 69 mph.
• In December 2001, 127 inches of snow dropped over six days.
• In February 2007, 141 inches of snow piled up in more than 10 days.