Freak snowstorm blamed for 3 deaths in Buffalo - CTV.ca News Staff
At least three deaths in Buffalo are being blamed on a powerful autumn snow storm....two people were killed in weather-related traffic accidents, while a third person died after being hit by a falling tree limb while shoveling snow.
The nearby town of Fort Erie, Ont. has called a state of emergency, as residents find themselves without power and roads blocked by fallen trees. A leisure complex is open overnight to provide people with cots and warm meals.
As much as 30 centimetres of snow fell on some regions of southwestern Ontario, and almost 60 centimetres covered sections of western New York and Buffalo, making it that city's worst storm in 137 years.
Video footage of Buffalo's airport showed the nose of a massive jetliner tipped into the air, as heavy snow weighed down the aircraft's tail.
In Fort Erie and Welland, where the storm was at its fiercest on the Canadian side, residents were bracing for more lake-effect snow on Friday as weather analysts predicted the region could receive another 15 centimetres.
Environment Canada described the wintry blast as "significant snowfalls of historic proportions.''
The heavy snowfall and winds of up to 90 kilometres an hour caused tree branches to snap onto power lines, leading to power outages from Port Colborne to Fort Erie, Ont.
Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said the early October storm is historic.
"I've been looking into the records of Fort Erie ... this amount of snow, this early in the season, I couldn't find anything even approaching it, as far back as 1870," he told CTV.
This is what my Mom's boyfriend Geoff had to say about the event:
"Thought I'd send you a few pics of what it's like here after the storm. The photo titles should be self-explanatory.
I guess you've been talking to Sandy and know that everything is back to normal there.
I got a half inch of water in my basement, so my carpets are toast. ServiceMaster pulled out the carpets on Monday night, which is just as well as they were beginning to stink. However I only had half power until Thursday morning, so ServiceMaster only just dropped off drying fans an hour ago. Guess it will be a week or two until my basement is restored (by the insurance company), but I'm not going to complain. Lots of people are worse off. Buffalo still has 30,000 homes without power.
Two doors up from me my neighbour had 2' of sewer back-up in the basement. Gross!! They had the same thing four years ago during the last extended blackout..."
And that is that reason why I grew up despising winter, especially lake-effect snow (unless the schools were closed, of course).
