Buffalo, N. Y. (WBEN) - It was right on schedule Saturday afternoon. A wall of wind arrived across Western New York like a locomotive, bringing peak gusts over 70 mph in Buffalo and Niagara Falls according to the National Weather Service.
"We had peak gusts of 71 mph, that was down at the Buffalo waterfront," meteorologist John Hitchcock at the Buffalo Office of the National Weather Service tells WBEN. "Seventy-four mph was one of the highest gusts, that was recorded up at the Niagara Falls Airport. And there were a couple of other reports of 65 to 70 mph winds near Lake Erie. And 70 mph winds over at Batavia as well."
Ironically, amidst the chaos of the wind, Buffalo set a record high temperature for the date Saturday at 67 degrees.
At the height of the wind storm, tens of thousands were without power in the region, numerous intersections were flooded and the Skyway was closed. The Skyway and Route 5 were reopened overnight along with most impacted intersections in Buffalo.
Power restoration efforts were in full swing Sunday and both National Grid and NYSEG made significant progress in restoring a majority of service. Outages are scattered across the region and you can track by your provider at these links:
"We've made steady progress through the night," National Grid's David Bertola told WBEN's Randy Bushover Sunday morning. Bertola says working at night presents challenges and restoration will accelerate Sunday with daylight and reduced winds. "It's not a sprint, we want to make sure we're doing things safely."
In hard-hit Hamburg, Supervisor Jim Shaw tells WBEN Sunday morning the newly constructed break wall helped to mitigate damages from the punishing winds. The area along Route 5 between Camp and Big Tree is a ususal storm trouble spot and the roadway was closed for a period of time dur to flooding concerns.
"The flooding in the Hoover Beach area was very significant," said Shaw. "We had to evacuate people on South Shore and Mid Shore."
In Buffalo crews were responding to 64 reports of downed trees and more are expected throughout the day Sunday.
"We're prioritizing those reports," said Andy Rabb, Buffalo Deputy Commissioner of Public Works. "We're addressing the large trees downon houses or those that are blocking roads."
"It was evenly spread," Department of Public Works Commissioner Michael Finn told WBEN Sunday morning. The tree and wind damage is scattered across all areas of the city of Buffalo, says Finn.
In Niagara County, a travel advisory that had been in place has been lifted and Sheriff Michael Filicetti tells WBEN it was extremely busy Saturday with over one thousand calls for assistance after 4pm. "Niagara Falls had a lot of trees down," said Filicetti, but damage is spread across the county as power restoration and cleanup is underway.
High Wind Warnings have been allowed to expire for all of WNY, however winds are still forecast to remain significant today in the 25 to 40 mph range according to the National Weather Service.
