New photos show the waterfront community of Crystal Beach in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, completely encased in ice. The homes, now frozen from the storm, took on the shape of icy sandcastles rather than lived-in construction. The storm dropped about 70 millimeters (or 3 inches) of rain in parts of the country before the deep cold, freezing precipitation and snow set in, sending off weather alerts and advisories to many Canadian provinces. Two regions eventually declared a state of emergency after tens of thousands were left without power in the Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick areas on Christmas, and at least four people died in a bus crash caused by icy road conditions in British Columbia. While the worst weather is over, the clean-up of its aftermath has only just begun as the ice continues to cling onto homes, roads, and walkways. Back home in the U.S., at least 60 deaths have been reported across the nation as a result of the bomb cyclone, with a majority of the reports coming from western New York, where 38 people died following the massive lake-effect snowstorm and what New York Governor Kathy Hochul called “the blizzard of the century” during a press conference on Monday, Dec. 26. According to local reports, the storm’s death toll has surpassed that of the historic Blizzard of 1977, which was blamed for killing as many as 29 people in Buffalo, New York–an area known for harsh winter weather. Our hearts are with those impacted by the storm.
