Brutal storm keeping frigid grip on much of Northeast as Buffalo struggles to cope

Buffalo, N.Y. — The deep freeze from a deadly winter storm that walloped much of the United States will continue into the early part of the week, forecasters say, as people in western New York deal with massive snow drifts that snarled emergency vehicles and travelers across the country see cancelled flights and dangerous roads.

The massive storm has killed at least 38 people across the United States and is expected to claim more lives after trapping some residents inside houses and knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

The extreme weather stretched from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60% of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians.