Paco Dennis
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“This will go down in history as the most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long, storied history of having battled many battles, many major storms,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Twelve people have died after a freezing blizzard with high winds struck the Buffalo, New York, area in a storm that the state’s governor has described as “devastating.”
Some of those who died were found in cars and others were on the street, Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County, where Buffalo is located, said earlier Sunday.
By 5 p.m. the number of storm-related deaths was 12, Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference.
"It is devastating. It is going to a war zone," Hochul said after surveying the damage. "The vehicles along the sides of the roads are shocking."
Six of the dead were in Buffalo, the city said. The others were in Amherst and Cheektowaga, Poloncarz said. Their ages were between 26 and 93. Reports from the field indicate the number of dead will rise, he said.
Buffalo was under a driving ban, and Mayor Byron W. Brown said police were asking those with snowmobiles to assist in search and recovery efforts.
Hochul said the scale of the storm will be worse than the famous blizzard of 1977 in its intensity and ferocity of the winds. That storm was blamed in 29 deaths, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center.
State police were involved in over 500 rescues, Hochul said, including helping the elderly get to hospitals and delivering a baby.
Around 15,000 customers in Buffalo were without power, which may not be restored before Tuesday, Poloncarz said.
"Substations froze. They were snowed under. We had a report that one substation had an 18-foot drift onto it," he said. "And when they got in the substation was frozen. They still don’t even know to the extent the damage that occurred in the substation."
Much of Buffalo is impassable, Poloncarz said. He urged people from areas where conditions had improved not to travel to Buffalo to rescue family and friends.
Officials have rescued “hundreds and hundreds” of people, including by snowplows, as those were the only vehicles able to reach those stranded in cars, Hochul said.
“This will go down in history as the most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long, storied history of having battled many battles, many major storms,” she said on Sunday."
3-4 minute read
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/buffalo-snowstorm-deaths-rcna63206
Twelve people have died after a freezing blizzard with high winds struck the Buffalo, New York, area in a storm that the state’s governor has described as “devastating.”
Some of those who died were found in cars and others were on the street, Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County, where Buffalo is located, said earlier Sunday.
By 5 p.m. the number of storm-related deaths was 12, Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference.
"It is devastating. It is going to a war zone," Hochul said after surveying the damage. "The vehicles along the sides of the roads are shocking."
Six of the dead were in Buffalo, the city said. The others were in Amherst and Cheektowaga, Poloncarz said. Their ages were between 26 and 93. Reports from the field indicate the number of dead will rise, he said.
Buffalo was under a driving ban, and Mayor Byron W. Brown said police were asking those with snowmobiles to assist in search and recovery efforts.
Hochul said the scale of the storm will be worse than the famous blizzard of 1977 in its intensity and ferocity of the winds. That storm was blamed in 29 deaths, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center.
State police were involved in over 500 rescues, Hochul said, including helping the elderly get to hospitals and delivering a baby.
Around 15,000 customers in Buffalo were without power, which may not be restored before Tuesday, Poloncarz said.
"Substations froze. They were snowed under. We had a report that one substation had an 18-foot drift onto it," he said. "And when they got in the substation was frozen. They still don’t even know to the extent the damage that occurred in the substation."
Much of Buffalo is impassable, Poloncarz said. He urged people from areas where conditions had improved not to travel to Buffalo to rescue family and friends.
Officials have rescued “hundreds and hundreds” of people, including by snowplows, as those were the only vehicles able to reach those stranded in cars, Hochul said.
“This will go down in history as the most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long, storied history of having battled many battles, many major storms,” she said on Sunday."
3-4 minute read
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/buffalo-snowstorm-deaths-rcna63206
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