Ten people found dead outdoors in NYC during Winter Storm Fern

People reports that Mayor Zohran Mamdani said ten people were found dead outside in New York City as Winter Storm Fern passed through; he made the announcement on Tuesday, Jan. 27, according to News 12 Brooklyn and CBS affiliate WCBS.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said six people died overnight Friday, Jan. 23, and one died overnight Saturday, Jan. 24, WPIX reported. A 90-year-old woman identified by loved ones as Doreen Ellis, who had dementia, was found in Brooklyn on the morning of Monday, Jan. 26 after she left her Crown Heights apartment and was discovered in the backyard of a building on New York Avenue near Sterling Place, Gothamist reported. Neighbor Junior Sharpe said Ellis was wearing a blue nightgown, a headscarf and one sock when she was found and that a white shawl was beside her.

The causes of death for each individual have not been determined; Mamdani said, according to WCBS and WPIX, “We don’t yet know whether every case will be ruled hypothermia, but we need every New Yorker to be on alert, looking out for their neighbors.” He announced an expansion of emergency services, increased street outreach and more frequent canvassing under a new protocol, and the opening of ten additional warming shelters—two in each borough—to assist people during the cold snap, according to Fox affiliate WNYW and WCBS.