We will not publish: Comments written that are poorly spelled or are written in caps or which use strange formatting to get noticed.We screen for comments that seek to spread information that is false or misleading.We will not publish comments that are profane, libelous, racist, or engage in personal attacks.Preference is given to commenters who use real names.Please be advised:Ĭomments are moderated and will not appear on site until they have been reviewed.Ĭomments are not open on some news articles Bell Media reserves the right to choose commenting availability. Bell Media reviews every comment submitted, and reserves the right to approve comments and edit for brevity and clarity. But Bajorek said some buildings may be close to that limit now, with more precipitation on the way. "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.īecause the Buffalo area is so snowy, the building codes require homes and businesses to be able to handle up to 50 pounds per square foot on their roofs, which would be about as heavy as a slab of concrete 4 inches thick, according to Mark Bajorek, a structural engineer.Īs anyone who has ever shoveled snow knows, its weight depends in part on how wet or fluffy it is, not just on how deep it is. The three-day total is close to the nearly 8 feet that the region typically gets over an entire year. Thirty-seven inches fell on the town of Wales southeast of Buffalo late Wednesday and Thursday, for a three-day total of more than 7 feet.Įven for the Buffalo area - one of the snowiest and hardiest places in America - this was one for the history books. With deliveries interrupted, some grocery stores reported running low on staples like bread and milk. Some Buffalo-area schools were closed for the third day, burning through snow days with winter still a month away.Ī 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. State officials assembled 463 plows, 129 loaders and 40 dump trucks from across the state. State troopers helped elderly residents trapped in their homes. National Guardsmen drove nurses to work their hospital shifts. With roads impassable, driving bans in effect and the Buffalo Bills' stadium buried in snow, the NFL decided to move Sunday's home game against the New York Jets to another location, still to be determined.Įarlier in the day, Cuomo said holding the game would jeopardize public safety. The storms were blamed for at least 10 deaths in western New York, mostly from heart attacks and exposure. "It's supposed to warm up and we're supposed to get rain on the weekend, which will make it even heavier. "It's getting heavier," said Cheektowaga resident Thomas Mudd Jr., who with his wife spent several hours shoveling 4 to 5 feet off his roof. Homeowners and store employees around the region climbed onto roofs to shovel off the snow and reduce the danger. Local media reported that about 180 residents of a Cheektowaga assisted living facility were evacuated after staff members noticed the ceiling bulging under the weight of the snow. Timothy Roma said more than a dozen buildings and carports collapsed, as did a metal warehouse operated by a Christmas decorations company, where damage was estimated in the millions. More than 50 people were evacuated from several mobile home parks in suburban Cheektowaga and West Seneca because roofs were buckling. Things could quickly get worse: Rain and temperatures as high as 60 were forecast over the weekend, raising the specter of flooding and an even heavier load on roofs, where the snow could absorb the downpours like a blanket. Some areas got close to 3 feet of new snow by Thursday afternoon. Andrew Cuomo begged drivers "pretty, pretty please" to stay off slippery, car-clogged roads in western New York while crews tried to dig out. Roofs began to creak and collapse and homeowners struggled to clear waist-high drifts atop their houses Thursday as another storm brought the Buffalo area's three-day snowfall total to an epic 7 feet or more.
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