CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — On Tuesday afternoon at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, there were those huge plow-broom multi-tasking vehicles finishing up snow removal on the two-plus mile runways.
They were also putting down the de-icer chemicals to melt all the accumulated snow which had ranged up to five feet in some areas of the airfield. This was all in preparation for the 11 a.m. Wednesday scheduled reopening of the airport.
This cleanup work took place after long days with the blizzard where crews simply could not safely work. A video from airport officials shows the whiteout, blinding conditions they encountered on Friday.
And then the drifting snow piled up around the terminals and jetways for the planes.
Airfield Superintendent Joe Guarino told Channel 2, "Nothing like that ever. It was a monster. If you ever saw that movie 'The Day After Tomorrow' - I can show you some pictures of our gates and areas on the airfield - it looked like the Arctic Circle."
Guarino said on Tuesday, "We've just got some cleanup work to do to get all the baggage carts that are buried and the jetways...get them up and running and we'll be good to go tomorrow."
They will also have to finish clearing out the airport parking lots for airport and airline employees as well as travelers.
And their snow melter machine, which can burn 135 tons of snow per hour with large diesel-powered furnaces, will have some help as well from a hired private contractor according to Guarino. "They're bringing four additional snow melters because we have a ton of snow in our parking lots and signature flights support - our FBO (forward based operator - private aviation) hired them too - they have a huge amount of snow on their ramp."
That hired contractor and the state are also providing large snow blower machines for the airport.
Originally the Pittsburgh Airport offered to send some equipment to help. But Guarino says there were delays in accessing the Thruway. He says it was appreciated but it's no longer needed as his staff got it done with existing equipment.
Also, Guarino notes that while those airport staffers could not clear runways at the height of the storm, they were still busy. They helped NFTA airport police and fire with rescues of stranded motorists and passengers in cars around the airport grounds. That included some people stuck in the Aero Drive tunnel that goes under the runway.