The family of one 22-year-old Buffalo resident, Anndel Taylor, said she died in her car after getting stuck on her way home from work.
A video sent by Taylor and posted by her sister shows her vehicle covered up to its windows in snow.
Emergency responders, who themselves became stuck attempting to rescue her, found her dead 18 hours later, possibly due to carbon monoxide poisoning, her family in North Carolina told local TV station WSOC-TV.
One father described being trapped in his vehicle on the streets of Buffalo with his four young children for 11 hours before being rescued, according to The New York Times.
Zila Santiago, 30, said he kept his engine running to provide some warmth and fed his children some juice found in his trunk.
They were finally rescued at dawn by a passing snowplough.
“WORST CHRISTMAS”
The perfect storm of fierce snow squalls, howling wind and sub-zero temperatures forced the cancellation of almost 20,000 US flights in recent days, including nearly 4,700 on Tuesday, according to tracking site Flightaware.com.
Most of the cancellations on Tuesday were at Southwest Airlines, which pulled over 60 per cent of its flights due to cascading logistics issues related to its particular route network, earning it a rebuke from the US government.
The Department of Transportation tweeted that it was “concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations” and would examine if the company is “complying with its customer service plan”.
US President Joe Biden on Monday approved an emergency declaration for New York state, freeing up funds to help it recover from the disaster.
Buffalo’s international airport remains closed until Wednesday morning and a driving ban remained in effect for the city, where thousands were still without power.
“You can absolutely go out and walk to check on neighbours, go to open stores, etc. But do not drive,” warned the county executive, Mark Poloncarz, in a tweet.
