More than 60 killed in blizzard wreaking havoc across U.S.

The death toll from the historic blizzard across the U.S. climbed to 65 on Tuesday as record snowfall blocked roads, hindering rescue operations, officials said.

Confirming seven additional deaths in Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the storm was “probably worse than anything that this city has seen in over 50 years.”

At a Zoom news conference later Tuesday, Brown said another body had been recovered. By the end of the afternoon, Erie County’s medical examiner had confirmed three additional deaths, raising the storm-related death toll to 32 for the county, which recorded the vast majority of New York’s 34 deaths.

Even though a driving ban was in force in parts of the Buffalo area, “we still are finding a lot of people out and about just hampering our efforts as first responders,” the city’s public works commissioner, Nathan Marton, said Tuesday morning on NBC News Now, adding that the department was trying to clear at least one lane for emergency vehicles.

Brown said, “We need people to continue to stay patient, stay off the roads today, and as soon as we can, we will lift the driving ban in the city of Buffalo.