By Angelina Tang
Between January 12th and January 19th, heavy snowfall, rain, and strong winds buffeted the United States, resulting in casualties across the country. Fortunately, following last year’s holiday snowstorm, many areas were far better prepared as people stockpiled resources ahead of time and utility vehicles were ready.
Strong winds resulted in power outages across the state starting on Friday the 12th, as a state of emergency was declared by governor Kathy Hochul ahead of predicted weekend snowfall of up to three feet. Furthermore, members of the New York National Guard were activated to be in place alongside utility crews for assisting those without power and cleaning up the snow.
Whiteout conditions over the weekend resulted in a travel ban that swept across Erie County, stretching through the weekend of January 13-14th. The NFL playoffs game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers, which was supposed to take place at Highmark Stadium on Sunday, was pushed back to Monday due to the weather. Due to snow elsewhere in the country as the snow-band swept from west to east, in addition to these conditions, thousands of planes were canceled or delayed during this time as well. By the time Monday hit, the snow calmed down a little and permitted the football game to go on. Also, the snow that weekend broke a nearly two-year snow drought in New York City, as 1-2 inches fell on the Big Apple.
However, as the week progressed, a fresh wave of lake effect snow swept across Erie County, forcing school districts to close from Wednesday to Friday. By Thursday night, which is when the lake effect warning expired, Erie County saw the greatest snowfall across upstate New York, with West Seneca seeing over three feet of snow due to lake effect alone and Buffalo two feet.
Throughout this entire process, utility workers have been working tirelessly to clear the snow from the roads. For example, contracted and volunteer workers helped clean up downtown Buffalo, including East’s own engineering department teacher Mr. DeLellis. He has had experience running large vehicles and wheel loaders, so on Monday and Thursday the 15th and 18th he went downtown to South Buffalo alongside other workers contracted by the city of Buffalo to help clear the snow using wheel loaders and bulldozers from the roads. They would load the snow into dump trucks, as there simply isn’t enough space in the neighborhoods to pile it up locally. The snow would be dumped by the Outer Harbor–that way, when it eventually melted, it would flow into the harbor and the lakes.
For future reference on what not to do in snowstorms, Mr. DeLellis said that civilians should always make sure to stay away from large machines in operation. In particular, he mentioned that one man walked in between a loader and the dump truck it was about to dump snow in–a perfect example of what one should never do. “I was nervous [plowing during the daytime] because there were a lot of people out shoveling and snow-blowing, and since it was very icy, if someone slipped and fell, I could easily not see them,” he said. When in such a tall machine, visibility is limited, so workers have to be extremely careful not to run anyone over. “When they’re running two twelve-hour shifts around the clock, it can be mentally exhausting because you’re always looking around and being aware of your surroundings.” If you want to do your part in stormy conditions, make sure you respect your utility workers and make sure you don’t get in the way! Thank you to Mr. DeLellis and all of the clean-up crew in Erie County. Your hard work makes it possible for society to keep functioning.
