CBS 2 – November 21, 2014
BUFFALO, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) – The FDNY has sent a team to help with snow removal in western New York where snow Thursday brought the Buffalo area’s three-day total to an epic 7 feet or more.
Early Friday morning, about 35 members of the FDNY’s Incident Management Team left Randall’s Island for Buffalo, where more than 30 roof collapses were reported overnight, officials said.
The deployment came at the request of the New York State Division of Homeland Security. “With more than five feet of snow on the ground in many areas, the FDNY wants to do our part to help our neighbors in western New York quickly get free from the effects of this deadly and crippling storm,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a news release.
The storms were blamed for at least 12 deaths, mostly from heart attacks and exposure. The most recent victims were two elderly residents of a nursing home that was evacuated amid concerns of a roof collapse, Deputy Erie County Executive Richard Tobe said Friday.
“No matter how you cut it, this event will end up in the top five for the Lake Erie area,” said National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini.
With roads impassable, driving bans in effect and the Buffalo Bills’ stadium buried in snow, the NFL decided to move the Bills’ Sunday home game against the New York Jets to Monday night in Detroit.
National Guardsmen drove nurses to their hospital shifts. State troopers helped elderly residents trapped in their homes. State officials assembled 463 plows, 129 loaders and 40 dump trucks from across the state for a massive cleanup effort.
A stretch of the New York State Thruway through western New York remained closed, with more than 300 truckers idled at truck stops and service areas, waiting for the highway to reopen.
Amtrak has continued to restore rail service through the region, but with modified schedules.
Even for the Buffalo area, one of the snowiest and hardiest places in America, this was one for the history books. The three-day total is close to the nearly 8 feet that the region typically gets over an entire year.
But now the looming threat of rain and higher temperatures through the weekend and beyond raise the possibility of floods and more roofs collapsing under the heavy loads. Little or no snow was expected on Friday and the forecast called for a chance of rain on Saturday and more on Monday, along with temperatures approaching 60 degrees.
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