BUFFALO, N.Y. — As the dusting snow finally starts to settle, the chilling reality and consequences of this nightmare storm are kicking in.
“Never thought I'd face this,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said.
“I thought the storm that we faced in 2014 would have been the worst in which we had 14 deaths, but this has far surpassed it.”
And with two more deaths being reported tonight, Erie County’s death toll is now at 27 and rising, as first responders continue to reach more stranded drivers across the region.
“Most abandoned cars in the city have unfortunately not yet been towed,” Poloncarz said. “There's cars everywhere, everywhere, pointing the wrong direction on roads. They've basically been plowed in. They need to be dug out and towed, and it's gonna take time to clear those.”
And on top of the roads being peppered with cars, first responders are also working through the 20,000 calls made to the county’s snow hotline — many of which are for non-serious matters like food delivery and snow plowing services.
Actions that the county says have contributed to EMS delays and three of the lives lost.
“These are for serious issues like you need dialysis and you need a ride for dialysis or your medication, your nitroglycerin has run out and you need nitroglycerin pills,” Poloncarz said. “It's not for an update on the weather. It's not for when the driving ban gonna get lifted.”
Meanwhile, videos are surfacing on TikTok showing residents from the City of Good Neighbors breaking into stores through windows and completely clearing the shelves, only adding to the pile for first responders.
“People who are out looting when people are losing their lives in this harsh winter storm, it’s just absolutely reprehensible,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said. “I don’t know how these people can even live with themselves, how they can look at themselves in the mirror. They are the lowest of the low.”