Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Heavy lake effect snow Tuesday and Wednesday brought a significant increase in calls for assistance to AAA, and more might be coming as the snow band dissolves Thursday.
Elizabeth Carey from AAA of Western and Central New York says Wednesday was particularly busy.
"We usually handle a few thousand calls a day, but in just a matter of hours we were hitting the call volume for a typical 24-hour period in January," said Carey during an interview with Brian Mazurowski and Susan Rose Thursday morning.
Carey says call volume was up 63% compared to a regular January day.
Despite snow continuing to fall and travel bans being issued across Erie County, the bans were somewhat of a blessing in disguise for overwhelmed AAA crews that couldn't keep up with the calls.
"When they put the driving bans in place the calls slowed down, we were able to get to everything. It was just a matter of logistics getting through heavy snow and a lot of road closures." Carey said.
With those travel bans having lifted, Carey anticipates another influx of calls to come in as drivers again hit the roads and others begin to dig out.
Carey says battery calls are expected to be through the roof along with more traditional calls such as people who are stuck in snowbanks and need to be pulled out.
