New York - (AFP) - More than 200,000 Americans woke up without electricity Sunday, Christmas morning, as a result of the days-long winter storm in the eastern United States, which left more than 20 dead.

Severe weather, a combination of blizzards and exceptionally cold weather, brought icy winds to 48 contiguous states over the weekend.

Travelers were stranded, thousands of flights were canceled, and residents were stuck in their homes covered in snow and ice.

Twenty-two weather-related deaths have been confirmed in eight states, including at least seven in western New York, where lots of snow, high winds and bitter cold brought Buffalo and surrounding cities.

While swathes of the country have begun to weather the massive storm and some areas have returned to seasonal temperatures, Buffalo remains a "major disaster", with emergency services unable to reach many of its hard-hit areas, a senior official said early on. Sunday.

"We have seven confirmed deaths at this point as a result of the storm. There could be more," county official Marc Poloncars told reporters.

He described the harsh conditions, talking about the discovery of frozen bodies in cars and under blocks of snow, prompting New York Governor Kathy Hochul to seek the help of the National Guard to assist in rescue operations.

"It was as bad as anyone has ever experienced," Bolonkars added.

The National Weather Service warned that Great Lakes snow storms will continue through Christmas Day with "additional snow accumulations of 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) overnight."

A couple in Buffalo, on the border with Canada, told AFP on Saturday that the roads were impassable and that they would not venture the 10-minute drive to see their family at Christmas.

"The situation is difficult because the conditions are so bad," said Rebecca Bortolin, 40. "A lot of emergency departments don't even send trucks in response to the calls."

The transportation disruption affected millions of Americans.

The most violent storm in decades led to the cancellation of more than 1,500 flights on Sunday, after about 3,500 flights were canceled on Saturday and about 6,000 flights on Friday, according to the specialized tracking website, Flight Aware.

"Most severe disruptions are behind us as airline and airport operations gradually recover," Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter Saturday.

But travelers remained stuck or late at airports, including in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis and New York.

Snow on the road led to the temporary closure of some of the busiest roads, including Highway 70, which crosses the country.

Drivers were warned not to use the roads during the busiest period, usually due to holidays.

The weather has also affected power grids, and many power providers are urging customers to reduce usage to reduce outages in places like North Carolina and Tennessee.

On Saturday, up to 1.7 million subscribers across the country lost their electricity in the bitter cold, according to the specialized "Power Outage" website.

But the number had dropped significantly by Sunday, although more than 200,000 subscribers in the eastern states were still without power.

In turn, the Canadian authorities issued severe weather warnings. Hundreds of thousands of people were without power in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, many flights were canceled in major cities and train service between Toronto and Ottawa was suspended.

In British Columbia, authorities said 53 people were injured in a passenger bus accident late Saturday on a highway in northeast Vancouver. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.