Residents of western New York are transitioning from shoveling snow to filling sandbags when a historic snowstorm that killed at least 38 people in metropolitan Buffalo gives way to a major meltdown with temperatures expected to rise.
A record 51 inches of snow over the Christmas weekend has paralyzed New York’s second largest city, which now faces flood fears as mercury is expected to rise into the 50s on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The warm up has already begun, with Buffalo hitting a relatively balmy 40 degrees on Thursday morning.
Pedestrians walk down Ellicott Street in downtown Buffalo December 28, 2022 in Buffalo, New York.
John Normile/Getty Images
With snow piled up in Buffalo and surrounding communities in Erie County, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has made additional resources available from the state’s stockpile, including 775,000 sandbags and 312 generators, to help communities cope with the radically changing weather to support.
“As we turn the corner in this historic winter storm, New York State remains prepared for potentially dangerous flooding,” Hochul said in a statement Wednesday. “Our state agency workers and local emergency responders have coordinated throughout the storm, and we will continue to do what we can to protect western New Yorkers and help our communities recover.”
Trucks queue to dump snow in front of Central Terminal after a winter storm in Buffalo, New York, December 28, 2022.
Lindsay Dedario/Reuters
The weekend’s snowstorms sent Buffalo’s seasonal snowfall to over 100 inches, the most the city has ever received so early in the season, and it has already surpassed its average annual snowfall mark of 89 inches.
The blizzard came after a monster lake-effect storm in November dumped 77 inches of snow on the area and triggered a state of emergency in Erie County.
Hochul has called the Christmas weekend storm the “snowstorm of the century” and the deadliest in the region since the 1977 blizzard. President Joe Biden passed a federal emergency declaration in New York on Monday evening.
A dump truck dumps snow in front of Central Terminal after a winter storm in Buffalo, New York, December 28, 2022.
Lindsay Dedario/Reuters
Thirty-seven of New York’s 38 deaths are occurring in Erie County, which includes the city of Buffalo, Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said Wednesday night. One storm-related death was reported in neighboring Niagara County, officials said.
Poloncarz said 29 of Erie County’s deaths occurred in the city of Buffalo.
The storm-related causes of death confirmed by the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office included three people who suffered heart attacks while shoveling or blowing snow; 17 people succumbed to the elements outside, three died due to an EMS delay and nine deaths were the result of people not having heating in their homes, Poloncarz said.
A driving ban imposed during the Buffalo snowstorm was lifted just after midnight Thursday as snow removal crews worked to clear the city’s streets.
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