Heavy snow, wind and whiteout conditions paralyzed Buffalo, despite the city’s extensive winter equipment and experience with heavy snowfalls, and officials said the disaster may go down as the worst in the region’s history. More than 27,000 households in Erie County remained without power early Sunday, officials said.
As the snow shifted south and winds subsided Sunday, crews were contending with power substations that are frozen and need specialized equipment for repairs, officials said in a briefing. Some first responders required rescue during the storm, and two warming centers closed after losing power. The operations center that handles 911 calls nearly had to be shut down after its fire-suppression system ruptured, causing flooding.
Poloncarz said crews reached the home where it had been reported that a 1-year-old baby was being kept alive on a ventilator but found no one there and had not been able to contact members of the family.
“It was bad, is the best way to put it. It was as bad as anyone’s ever seen,” Poloncarz said, adding that he has been in touch with the Biden administration as well as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) about obtaining additional resources. “This is a snowstorm that will never be forgotten, due to the ferocity of it.”
Briefing reporters later Sunday morning, Hochul said National Guard members were on the ground in the hardest-hit areas of Erie County, with more on the way, helping doctors and nurses get to hospitals and rescuing people stuck in vehicles.
“This is a war with Mother Nature, and she has been hitting us with everything she has,” said the governor, who served as Erie County Clerk from 2007 to 2011. “This is one for the ages, and we’re still in the middle of it.”
The blast of Arctic air continued to chill much of the eastern United States, according to the National Weather Service, but is expected to weaken as it drifts eastward.
More than 175,000 utility customers across the country remained without power as of Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us., down from at least 1.5 million on Friday. The storm has snarled traffic and travel plans over the Christmas holiday, with more than 1,400 flights canceled in the United States as of Sunday morning, according to Flight Awarecompared with more than 3,488 canceled on Saturday.
In Erie County, a ban on driving remained in place, and officials called on residents to keep their water running so that pipes would not freeze. Officials said the region, which received several feet of snow in a 48-hour period, is used to shoveling out when that occurs. But during this blizzard, in addition to frigid temperatures, wind gusts that reached to nearly 80 mph created dangerous drifts and whiteout conditions that blinded drivers.
“It’s like putting in front of you a sheet of white paper and just keeping it there for hours and hours and hours on end,” Poloncarz said.
He pleaded with county employees who have been home for the past two days to report to work and relieve their exhausted colleagues.
“This was not the Christmas that we wanted,” he said. “It will be a Christmas that we remember.”
This is a developing story. It will be updated.