Big Blast Of Winter Takes Buffalo & Niagara Region By Storm

You know it’s really, really bad when even the local Wal-Mart is closed.

While G.T.A. residents woke up to a cold blast of air on Friday, a large part of the rest of the southern tier awakened to a cold blast of reality.

Toronto dodged a major bullet which wound up being aimed straight at cities in the Niagara Region and Buffalo, where the largest and earliest major October snowfall in recorded history left many cities unprepared and paralyzed.

In Fort Erie, traffic was at a virtual standstill for much of the day as residents tried to dig out from a mountain of wet flakes. It’s estimated some 30 centimetres of snow hit the border town.

And the clean-up hasn’t been easy.

“We’ve been at it for six hours,” one resident grunts, as he wields his shovel. “I hope it’s over for now. You know, it’s really hard doing it. We were up all night. You can see all the branches and everything come down all over the place. Power has been out all night long. We haven’t had heat, power, we can’t even watch your news.”

Branches fell like raindrops as one tree after another came down with the weight of the snow.

“We weren’t home,” recalls a rueful Richard Bogar. “Our daughter called us on the cell phone and said the big tree is gone.”

Kathy Bogar thinks it will be missed. “That’s the saddest thing,” she observes, “because it was the kids’ swing tree.”

There was equal sadness on the other side of the border.

An almost unbelievable 60 centimetres of snow fell in Buffalo and Western New York, leaving at least three dead, turning the roads into ice rinks, closing the Peace Bridge and forcing officials to declare a state of emergency.

Trees weighed down by leaves and the heavy precipitation also came crashing down everywhere, knocking out power to more than 350,000. Those without heat or light could only sit inside, wait and wonder when crews might be able to reach them. Officials warn in some cases, it could be hours – or even weeks.

Some 18,000 remain powerless in Ft. Erie and they could stay that way for a while, too.

“Because of the extent of the damage, full restoration might take three to five days,” warns Canadian Niagara Power president and CEO Bill Daly. “We have some major repair work to do and then we can start energizing our high voltage circuits first and work our way down.”

More than 160 kilometres of roads were shut down in Buffalo, where a travel ban was implemented. Schools, businesses and stores all stayed closed, because no one could reach them.

And in a bizarre sight rarely to be seen again, rescue workers on snowmobiles delivered food and water to those who became stranded on the highways.

Two of the deaths were caused by traffic accidents, while a third person was critically injured when one of many fallen tree limbs landed on top of them.

Buffalo’s airport was closed, as crews tried to clear away 14 inches of heavy, wet flakes on the runways. But the terminal and the QEW were both re-opened by mid-day.

Still, no one’s going anywhere fast.

“We have a condition where 80 percent of the roads are impassable,” explains Amherst Police Lt. Stephen McGonagle.

It’s too soon to say what the storm’s effects and repairs will cost, but it’s likely to total into the millions. Only a few people seemed to be enjoying this early wallop from winter.

“It’s pretty cool because we get to build snow forts,” exclaims 10-year-old Christopher Platek, who got an early weekend. “We get to bury ourselves in the snow!”

Most others weren’t quite so pleased by that prospect.

The storm that brought all this early misery into the region somehow bypassed Toronto, which found itself as the horseshoe in the so-called Golden Horseshoe.

We experienced a few flurries in the G.T.A., cold temperatures and some bitter wind chills. But compared to what happened to the south and up north in cottage country, most agree we were very lucky indeed.

Those in Buffalo are trying to keep their sense of humour.

“All the trees are down. No power,” comments Buffalo resident Ron Pellnat. “It’s Friday the 13th, how about that?”

To check on the forecast and for a look at live radar, click here.

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