Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown as well as city engineers and regional power crews are warning of a potentially damaging and fierce wind storm Monday.
"This wind storm is expected to be as strong as the one we had back in October", the Mayor stated during a conference call late Sunday.
The city of Buffalo has closed Ralph C. Wilson Park and Erie Basin as a result of the forecast winds.
Buffalo Department of Public Works Commissioner Mike Finn says the two biggest dangers the city experiences during wind events are, "trees being knocked down as well as issues with the waterfront". City crews and emergency contractors are standing by to aid in the removal of any downed trees that may result from the dangerous winds.
"National Grid has been tracking this weather event since last week", says Ken Kujawa with National Grid. "We're anticipating that customers in our service territory in Western New York, including the city of Buffalo, will probably experience power outages on Monday", added Kujawa.
The coronavirus concerns are not expected to cause a problem in limiting the number of restoration crews available to National Grid. "We have our full complement of crews available", said Kujawa.
NYSEG is also preparing for the storm ramifications, saying, "Currently, nearly 1,000 company and contractor line and tree resources are on-site and ready to respond should outages occur. Given the ongoing COVID-19 challenge, the companies reaffirmed that crews are continuing to follow CDC recommendations, including social distancing and hygiene related best practices."