Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Snowmobilers across Western New York have been helping those in need following the Christmas weekend blizzard, fueling up and performing rescues and deliveries.
City and county leaders are defending their stances on snowmobile policy, but one snowmobile group leader tells WBEN he's been trying to get a more formalized plan in place for some time.
Rich McNamara of Northern Erie Sno-Seekers says he started rescue efforts late Friday afternoon, as the storm began. "I got a phone call from the New York State emergency management personnel saying they had multiple people stuck on Route 5 in Newstead and can you help them? I said yes," explained McNamara. With the help of a groomer, he says he got there and over a period about 10 hours they rescued 41 people. He says visibility was near zero at the time.
McNamara says he and fellow members were working up and down and Clarence, Newstead, Amherst, and had some snowmobilers running into Buffalo. "They were bringing some medical supplies. I heard some people transporting people that were stuck in vehicles...I took some nurses and doctors down in the city that relieve their co-workers."
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As Buffalo and Erie County leaders stood by their snowmobile policies saying they would not have been effective in blizzard conditions, McNamara begs to differ. "I rescued 41 people. I think it has to stand for itself," says McNamara. He says snowmobiles can get to where wheeled vehicles like ambulances can't. "You get over a foot of snow, they'll get stuck. All snowmobiles are tracked machines and our groomers are very large track machines. They're like the vehicles that they use on ski slopes to groom the trails. If you go over 7, 8, 10 foot drifts, like it's just walking on water, it's a piece of cake," he adds.
McNamara says he's been trying to coordinate with governments on bringing snowmobilers to help with storm rescues. "We've had past meetings with government officials from the State Police, Thruway Authority, DOT. Six months to a year after your event, and then it just falls off the face of the earth until the next event," laments McNamara. During the storm he says there appeared to be no chain of command. "I've gotten phone calls over the weekend from State Police out of Albany. I've got DOT, Thruway Authority calling. Everybody's calling for help. And there's no sense of organization how to use the snowmobile clubs to help everybody," says McNamara.