The devastating storm impacting the U.S. continues to rage, with 39 now confirmed to have died - including 17 across New York state.

The deep freeze that has covered much of the country will continue into the week as people in western New York deal with massive snow drifts that snarled emergency vehicles.

While the bomb-cyclone saw temperatures dropping to as low as -45C (-50F) in Montana.

The storm is expected to claim more lives after trapping some residents inside houses and knocking out power - as some areas prepare for upwards of 30 inches of snow by Tuesday.

On Christmas Day, New York Governor Kathy Hochul held a press conference where she described the blizzard as 'the most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long, storied history' of horrific storms.

'It is devastating. It is going to a war zone,' Hochul said Sunday. In the Buffalo are a, some of those who died were found in cars and others were found on the street in snowbanks, according to Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County.

'There may be more,' Poloncarz said. 'I don’t want to say this is going to be it, because that would be fallacy for me to say that. Because we know there are people stuck in cars for more than two days. And there are people in homes that are below freezing now temperatures.'

The 13 killed in Western New York includes six in Buffalo, one in Amherst, three in Cheektowaga and one in Lockport, according to local officials. 

The one person killed in the Town of Lockport died after heavy snow covered the external furnace at a home, causing a case of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Poloncarz late Sunday evening shared that four of those killed were found outside, one inside a car, and one inside a home. 

Three were killed from cardiac events derived from snow shoveling and snow blowing events and three died while waiting for EMS to arrive.  

'Sadly, we're getting reports of additional deaths that still need to be confirmed,' Poloncarz said Sunday. 

The ages of those killed in Buffalo and the surrounding areas range from 26 to 93. One victim has so-far been identified; 56 year-old William Clay, who died on his birthday December 23 after trying to walk through the snow to go to a store. 

Driving bans remained in place going into Monday morning. 

Conditions were so turbulent Saturday evening, the Buffalo Fire Department vehicles could not answer calls.

Buffalo is set to be battered by another 36 inches of snow until Tuesday, with the National Weather Service warning extreme flurries will soon hit.

Officials confirmed that the area is no longer under blizzard warnings after being pummeled by 80-mph winds and multiple deaths on Christmas Eve. 

Poloncarz has compared the current weather disaster to the deadly blizzard of 1977  which claimed the lives of 29 people. 

As of Sunday evening, Hochul said New York state police have been involved in more than 500 rescues. 

As many as 15,000 customers in the Buffalo area are still without power as officials say it may take days to turn the power back on. 

'Substations froze. They were snowed under. We had a report that one substation had an 18-foot drift onto it," Poloncarz said. 

'And when they got in the substation was frozen. They still don’t even know to the extent the damage that occurred in the substation,' the executive continued. 

Those without power have been told to leave their water faucets on in order to prevent pipes from freezing and bursting. 

On Saturday, a 56 year-old father was identified as the first victim of the storm. 

William 'Romello' Clay had been missing since midnight on December 23 after leaving his home to go to the store. 

Video shared online showed a man lying face down in the snow Saturday afternoon near Bailey and Kensington Avenue in Buffalo. 

The remains were later identified by Clay's family members as the man who had left in the middle of the storm to pick up items from the store. 

Just after 6pm Sunday, the National Weather Service of Buffalo shared a startling statistic regarding the snow fall totals in the area. 

'A very snowy start to the season, with lake effect events focusing upon the #Buffalo airport and vicinity. The 92.7" of snow is not only the most snow to start the winter season through #Christmas, but also just 2.7" behind the typical entire seasonal snowfall,' NWS Buffalo tweeted. 

An estimated 43 inches of snow had fallen in Buffalo as of Sunday morning, according to AccuWeather.

On Friday alone, Buffalo received 22.3 inches, followed by 17.9 inches on Christmas Eve. 

Others killed have yet to be identified in what Governor Hochul on Sunday called 'the most devastating storm' in history. 

Throughout the weekend, Erie County warming centers were forced to close because they lost power during the storm. 

The National Weather Service has warned that being outdoors in some areas could lead to ‘frostbite in minutes’.

Fatalities have been recorded in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and New York, with four people dying on Saturday in a three-vehicle crash on an interstate highway in Ohio. 

(Source: Daily Mail)