- A 22-year-old woman died after getting in her car during a blizzard, according to WSOC.
- Anndel Taylor reportedly sent her family a video of her car windows appearing to be covered in snow.
- At least 27 people have died in Buffalo, New York, following the storm.
A 22-year-old woman in Buffalo, New York, died after being trapped in her car for 18 hours during a lethal blizzard, a report says.
Anndel Taylor was driving home from work on Friday when she became stranded by the heavy snowfall, according to her family, who spoke to their local ABC-affiliate news outlet WSOC, based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the storm the "blizzard of the century," and at least 27 people have died in Buffalo as of Monday afternoon, according to Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz.
Taylor's family said she texted their group chat to say that snow was piling up, and sent a video of her car windows appearing to be covered in snow, WSOC reported.
They also said she called 911, but emergency services failed to reach her in time. Taylor's mother said she had planned to sleep in her car and wait out the storm and then walk home.
"I feel like everybody that tried to get to her got stuck. Fire department, police, everybody got stuck," Tomeshia Brown, Taylor's sister told the outlet. "Why didn't they have chains on their tires? This is a state that is known for snow."
Taylor was found dead inside her car the next day, and her family estimate that she was trapped for 18 hours.
A cause of death has not been given by officials, but her mother speculated that she died due to carbon monoxide poisoning rather than hypothermia.
"The car was running, and the snow was still coming, so it blocked the pipes, the exhaust pipe," her mother told WSOC. "Then after the car cut off, that's when she iced up."
Shawnequa Brown, Taylor's other sister, said that there had been "a lot of crying" in the family, and that there were still gifts for her under their Christmas tree.
A GoFundMe page set up by the family to pay for funeral costs has generated over $9,600 at the time of writing.