Buffalo, New York Area, Great Lakes, Lake-Effect Snow Impacts: At Least 5 Dead, State of Emergency Declared

November 19, 2014

"Snow was still falling on the Buffalo, New York, area Wednesday morning, a day after a major lake-effect snow event dumped up to 60 inches of snow on areas south of Buffalo, killing at least five people and stranding vehicles for hours on roads throughout the area. In response, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the western New York counties most impacted by the snow.

Snow also fell in other Great Lake states, including northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where up to two feet of snow blew ashore. Those areas will get a bit of a reprieve today before the lake-effect event ramps-up again in the evening hours Wednesday into the morning Thursday. For specific forecast details click on the link below.

A 46-year-old man was found dead in his vehicle in Alden, New York. The car was completely buried in snow, The Buffalo News reports.  A second person died in an automobile accident, and the three other deaths are possibly due to cardiac complications.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for 10 counties, including Erie County, most impacted by lake-effect snow. The declaration mobilizes more than 1,000 transportation personnel, including 526 snow plows, 74 large loaders and 21 snow blowers. The declaration also sends 150 National Guardsmen into the Buffalo area to assist with recovery efforts.

A travel ban remains in place for areas south of Buffalo."

I came across this article on weather underground and instantly I became interested. Considering I haven't seem much snow in Chicago yet, it was amazing to me how NY had suffered such a great snow storm and that 5 people perished as a result. Unfortunately, we as humans cannot control the weather because it is indeed a natural occurrence, but we can control how we deal with the weather. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, from what I've read, has done a great job with issuing a variety of reliefs to the people of Buffalo through snow plows and travel bans. The actions taken to help these people in distress have been done with a sense of urgency and that it a great thing to witness.