Most of the deaths were from CO poisoning. I wonder how many people got suckered into relying on cold climate heat pumps as their sole source of heat (going green) and once the power goes out, people get desperate bringing in unvented grills, etc.
Most CO deaths are from improper use of portable generators or temporary heating appliances. Like running the generator in the garage with the door open.
Everytime there is a major power outage here in NH some people kill themselves with the exhaust from a generator.
Other Darwin potential award winners will end up burning their house down. I asked a former firefighter buddy what was the stupidest thing he had seen after a recent ice storm.
He told me how they showed up to a single story house. There was smoke coming out the basement windows.
The guy had lost power and decided to build a campfire on the concrete floor in the basement to warm up the house.
They scorched the floor joists almost catching the underside of the first floor on fire.
Snow that falls that deep and fast could easily block exhaust vents for gas furnaces and water heaters, too.