Buffalo winter storm: 39 now confirmed dead in western New York, officials say

close

Video

New York State Police deploy the Rook to clear vehicles after Buffalo winter storm

New York State Police are using the Rook to clear vehicles stuck in snow in Buffalo, New York.

Officials in New York are now confirming that 39 people have died in the Christmas weekend winter storm that swept through Buffalo and its surrounding areas. 

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, in a series of tweets Thursday, said 31 of the deaths occurred in the city of Buffalo itself, while the others happened in the towns of Amherst and Cheektowaga and the villages of Williamsville and Depew. 

"[Seventeen] were found outside, 11 were in homes, 4 were found in cars, 4 were from shoveling/snowblowing, 3 were delayed EMS responses," he tweeted. 

Poloncarz said preliminary estimates show his county in western New York has spent $5 million so far on private contractors to help with the storm cleanup, $1 million of which was devoted to the city of Buffalo alone on Wednesday. 

NEW YORK STATE POLICE DEPLOY THE ‘ROOK’ TO MOVE VEHICLES STUCK IN BUFFALO SNOW 

Vehicles drive down Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo. New York, on Wednesday, Dec. 28. (Joseph Cooke/The Buffalo News via AP)

"Crews' equipment is going through 2,000 gallons of fuel every 4 hours," he added. 

BUFFALO LIFTS DRIVING BAN AFTER NEARLY A WEEK 

A gas station canopy is collapsed along Niagara Street in downtown Buffalo on Dec. 28, in Buffalo, New York. (John Normile/Getty Images)

An emergency operations center set up to deal with the storm will be winding down tonight, according to Poloncarz, but he said there is "still a lot of work to be done." 

A bulldozer piles up snow being removed from the city of Buffalo to be dumped back into Lake Erie on Dec. 28.

"The National Guard and our emergency crews will remain in the area and on the roads, so please make sure to give them room -- some of these vehicles are very large and not typically on regular streets," he wrote. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

The Erie County Sheriff's Office and "all county departments will be doing an evaluation of resources and action plans to make sure every response is always better than the last one," Poloncarz also said.