Buffalo received more than 50 inches of snow over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
Reports of looting
Poloncarz also said that police are investigating scattered reports of looting in Buffalo.
\"I'm heartbroken about the deaths, just absolutely devastated to see as many deaths. And then to find out that there's looting going on in our community at the same time we're still recovering bodies is just horrible,\" Poloncarz said.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/buffalo-snow-weather-04-rt-jef-221225_1671997874053_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
PHOTO: A man on a snowmobile speaks to a plow in the road following a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region in Amherst, New York, December 25, 2022.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/snow-buffalo-street_hpMain_20221226-141843_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Craig Ruttle/AP
PHOTO: People move about the streets of the Elmwood Village neighborhood of Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, after a massive snow storm blanketed the city. Along with drifts and travel bans, many streets were impassible due to abandoned vehicles.
Daniel Neaverth Jr., the Erie County commissioner of Emergency Services, said more than a dozen gas stations in the county have been reported inoperable \"because the convenience side of them has been looted and the equipment inside has been rendered ineffective and thus the pumps for the fueling are ineffective.\"
Neaverth said the looting was hampering emergency vehicles from fueling up.
\"So if you don't think there's a trickle down from going looting and grabbing individual little things, this is a drastic implication for us that we now have to deal with to find alternate fuel sources,\" Neaverth said.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/snow-buffalo_hpEmbed_20221226-105533_3x2_384.jpg\")
Bridget Haslinger/AP
PHOTO: Martin Haslinger clears snow from the front of his home, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y.
Brown said police responded to several looting in the city of Buffalo and have made some arrests. The mayor said it was \"reprehensible\" that people are taking advantage of a natural disaster, calling the looters \"the lowest of the low.\"
At one point, 23,000 households lost power, said Jackie Bray, the state commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. National Grid, the local utility company, said Wednesday that about 840 customers remain without power.
'Winter wonderland tour' bus rescue
Polocarz added that hundreds of cars were left abandoned on roadways across the county, including tractor-trailer rigs and buses.
\"There are cars everywhere pointing the wrong direction on roads. They've basically been plowed in and need to be dug out and towed,\" Poloncarz said.
Among the hundreds who had to be rescued was a group of tourists from around the world on a \"winter wonderland bus tour,\" Poloncarz said. He said the bus got stuck in the Buffalo suburb of Lackawanna and that rescue crews had to evacuate passengers and take them to a nearby shelter.
\"These tourists are getting more than they bargained for with regards to their 'winter wonderland tour' as they've gone through one of the worst storms in U.S. history,\" Poloncarz said.
The \"colossal\" snowstorm brought winds of nearly 80 mph to Buffalo, the governor said.
\"This will go down in history as the most devastating storm\" in Buffalo, Hochul said during a Christmas morning news conference.
Poloncarz said Monday that the death toll has now outpaced the Blizzard of 1977.
This storm marked the first time in history that the Buffalo Fire Department couldn't respond to any calls, officials said. National Guardsmen have been called in.
Hundreds of people have been rescued from cars, Hochul said, adding, \"We still have people who need to be rescued.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/buffalo-snow-weather-01-rt-jef-221225_1671981553665_hpEmbed_14x11_384.jpg\")
Kevin Hoak/Reuters
PHOTO: Hoak's restaurant is covered in ice from the spray of Lake Erie waves during a winter storm in Hamburg, New York, Dec. 24, 2022.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/buffalo-snow-weather-06-rt-jef-221225_1671997894036_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
PHOTO: Snow plows clear the roads following a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region in Lancaster, New York, December 25, 2022.
Buffalo's airport is expected to reopen on Wednesday. Pittsburgh's airport sent plows to help dig out the runways.
The National Hockey League canceled the Tuesday game between the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets due to the weather and the Sabres not being able to travel from Buffalo in time for the game.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/airport-travel-02-gty-jef-221225_1671985143640_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
PHOTO: Holiday travelers crowd the Detroit Wayne County Metro Airport on Christmas Eve following Winter Storm Elliot December 24, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/buffalo-snow-weather-05-rt-jef-221225_1671997389883_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
PHOTO: Vehicles are left stranded on the road following a winter storm that hit the Buffalo region in Amherst, New York, Dec. 25, 2022.
Weather fatalities across the nation
Weather-related fatalities were also reported in Ohio, Vermont, Colorado, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky, according to The Associated Press.
The storm comes as brutally cold air slammed the country on Christmas morning.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/south-carolina-weather-gty-jef-221225_1671979208202_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: Ice adorns a fountain in Charleston, South Carolina, on December 24, 2022, where temperatures are forecast to reach a high of 32F.
The temperature plunged to minus 9 degrees in Minneapolis, 2 degrees in Chicago, 3 degrees in Denver, 15 degrees in New York, 16 degrees in Atlanta and 21 degrees in Dallas.
More than 6.3 million customers across the United States were without power at some point over the holiday weekend, officials said.
More than 165,000 customers woke up without power on Christmas morning across Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Virginia and Florida. The majority of those customers had power restored by Monday, though 15,800 customers in Maine and 13,900 in New York -- the vast majority in Erie County -- remained without power Monday afternoon.
Airlines continue to cancel thousands of flights in what is becoming a Christmas nightmare for so many. More than 18,200 flights have been canceled since Wednesday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. More than 3,000 flights were canceled into, out of or within the United States on Christmas Eve, and more than 2,000 flights were canceled on Christmas Day.
Another 3,500 flights were canceled in the United States Monday, as of 3:30 p.m. Southwest Airlines is having significant systemwide issues and has canceled 2,600, or about 65%, of scheduled flights.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/buffalo-snow-weather-03-ap-jef-221225_1671985143636_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Carolyn Thompson/AP
PHOTO: A person clears snow from the sidewalk during a snowstorm, Dec. 24, 2022 in Buffalo, N.Y.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/airport-travel-01-ap-jef-221225_1671985143631_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Paul Beaty/AP
PHOTO: Passengers wait in line at O'Hare International Airport, Dec. 24, 2022, in Chicago.
