Death toll in western New York rises to 27 amid severe winter storm

Huge snowdrifts nearly covered cars on Monday and there were thousands of houses, some adorned in unlit holiday displays, that have been dark from a lack of power

In this drone image, snow blankets a neighbourhood in Cheektowaga, New York (John Waller via AP)

The death toll from a pre-Christmas blizzard that paralysed the Buffalo area and much of the US has risen to 27 in western New York, authorities said, as the region dug out from one of the worst weather-related disasters in its history.

The dead have been found in their cars, homes and in snowbanks. Some died while shovelling snow.