Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says he is among 20,000 National Grid customers in the city of Buffalo who are without power as a result of the Christmas weekend holiday storm. He is among many reminding people to not go out in the bitter cold and heavy snow.
Brown gave his 5pm update Friday from his home because he was without power. Brown says National Grid has actually stopped responding to trying to restore power because of the dangerous conditions. "The latest snowfall projections are between 36 to 48 inches of snow. That should arrive by Monday at 7am," says Brown.
Brown is urging people not to drive. "We have a number of people that have gone out and driven that are stuck in different parts of the city who are clogging up our 911 system calling because they are stuck in their vehicles. I have to say that is not a high priority call at this time," says Brown. He says visibility remains at zero, and now that the sun has gone down and it is dark. It is extremely dangerous being in a vehicle on the road.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/wben/news/local/erie-county-buffalo-give-their-evening-winter-storm-updates" headline="Poloncarz on winter storm: "It was horrible during the day and it's going to be worse at night."" image="/media-library/image.png?id=63648377"]Brown says plowing in the city is focused on main and secondary roads. He says the city has received about 80 calls for trees that have come down. "It is estimated by the end of this storm, there might be several 100 trees that are down. The other thing that makes driving dangerous is that there are not only trees that are down, but poles that are down power lines that are down as well," says Brown.
Brown adds there have been concerns about water quality. "There is flooding at a number of our waterfront parks and residences that are on the waterfront. We were concerned about a seiche with lake water like a tidal wave of lake water getting into our water system. Fortunately, that has not not happened. And our water quality is very good," explains Brown.
The blizzard warning is up until Monday morning.
