Buffalo blizzard fuels racial, class divides in polarized city: US media

NEW YORK - As Buffalo, in the northeastern US state of New York, begins to dig itself out from its deadliest disaster in a decade, the plights of people stuck for days in frigid homes without much food, their streets still unplowed, have reignited deep economic and racial fault lines that have long polarized the city, reported The Washington Post on Thursday.

Authorities say more than 30 people have died, found in their homes, cars and outside in snowbanks. The blinding wind and dense snow paralyzed emergency response efforts over the weekend, galvanizing citizen volunteer groups who worked to rescue and care for the more vulnerable, according to the report.

"As the toll on the city has become clearer, a dozen residents and community leaders said in interviews that structural issues such as poverty, food deserts, poor housing and a lack of investment by government have made the impacts on working-class, Black and Brown neighborhoods much worse," it noted.

They expressed concerns that surrounding wealthier and Whiter suburbs appeared to be more prepared, their response better coordinated, their power and roads restored faster, it said.

"This area is so heavily impacted by these systemic issues, and it's largely because of poverty ... And impoverished people happen to be people of color," a local resident was quoted as saying.

Buffalo is one of the nation's poorest cities, highly segregated, and it has been hit especially hard this year, and by the pandemic, according to the report.