BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said Monday afternoon that residents in the city's Old First Ward were being asked to shelter in place, ahead of a high wind storm that is expected to travel through the area later in the evening. He added people would only be evacuated if necessary.
NFTA buses will be available to transport residents in the area to Tosh Collins Community Center, if they do need to be evacuated at some point.
Brown said social distancing guidelines would still be followed and anyone who has to evacuate will also be provided personal protective equipment. However, Brown asks that if you do need to be evacuated that you let first responders know whether you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, so they can take necessary precautions.
Winds were expected to reach over 70 mph; however, the high wind warnings expired early. But scattered gusts up to 45 mph are still possible Monday night.
National Grid said the power company would be providing an additional 200 crew members to Buffalo, while NYSEG said 1,000 additional workers would be ready to receive calls.
Thankfully, they say there has only been a little bit of damage, which they are more than equipped to handle. It includes some downed power poles and some flooding along the roads. Hoover Beach even had waves crashing high enough to hit homes.
Erie County Emergency Services Commissioner Dan Neaverth says because of the predicted wind gusts, they were originally anticipating nearly 25,000 to 40,000 people would lose power.
The county will continue to monitor the storm throughout the night, especially at Hoover Beach.
People living in the area are not required to evacuate but the county and town of Hamburg have set up some emergency shelter at a place that was originally to be used for quarantined residents during the coronavirus pandemic.
"The dynamic of COVID-19 has caused a lot of them to not necessarily have a lot of the reliable family members they can go to," Naeverth said. "So it made a lot of sense for a lot of us to get together and use our heads to use some of the existing facilities that were using as a result of COVID-19 and distancing in other cases."
Though things haven't been as bad as originally predicted, county officials, including Mayor Brown, encourage everyone to stay at home, especially as we try to limit the spread of the coronavirus and flatten the curve.
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