<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">At least 38 deaths have now been linked to a severe Arctic freeze that continues to pummel the US and Canada.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Officials say 34 people died across the US, with the worst-hit area being the city of Buffalo, in New York state.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Four fatalities occurred in Canada when a bus rolled over on an icy road near the town of Merritt, in the western province of British Columbia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The storm has wreaked havoc for days but power has been steadily restored after earlier blackouts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fewer than 200,000 customers were without power as of Sunday afternoon EDT, down from a peak of 1.7 million, the Associated Press reports.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thousands of flights have been cancelled, preventing many people from reaching their families at Christmas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 55 million Americans remained under wind chill alerts on Sunday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The reach of the blizzard conditions has been unprecedented, stretching from Canada as far south as Texas.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The "bomb cyclone" winter storm - which occurs when atmospheric pressure plummets, causing heavy snow and winds - has disrupted travel across the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">New York State Governor Kathy Hochul - a native of Buffalo - said : "This will go down in history as Buffalo's most devastating storm."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some of the seven dead in the area were found in cars and snow banks, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz told Reuters news agency.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Storm-related deaths were also reported in Vermont, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Colorado.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The western US state of Montana is the worst hit by the cold, with temperatures dropping to -50F (-45C).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Canada, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec are bearing the brunt of the storm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Quebec almost 120,000 customers were without electricity on Sunday. Officials say it some could take days for some households to be reconnected. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>