Buffalo residents stranded without food as storm death toll hits 38

 Five days after a massive blizzard devastated Buffalo, the city was still digging out from the snow as some residents were stranded without food and embattled officials vowed to clear roads by the end of Wednesday.

As the area’s death toll rose to a staggering 38 people, a top county official pointed a finger Wednesday at Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown for the city’s slow recovery and lack of leadership ahead of the storm, the Buffalo Times reported.

“The city, unfortunately, is always the last one to open,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a press conference Wednesday. “It’s embarrassing, to tell you the truth.”

His scathing comments came as 580 National Guard members were dispatched to do “wellness checks” on people trapped at home without food or medications amid the city’s driving ban, a state official told The Post.

“If someone needs food, we’re bringing them MREs,” New York National Guard spokesman Eric Durr told The Post. “We did a similar thing in New York City following Superstorm Sandy.”

The National Guard was dispatched to do “wellness checks” at the homes of Buffalo residents.

AP

The military branch’s mission also includes traffic control and road rescues along with transporting medical workers to hospitals to treat people, he said.

The National Guard had rescued at least 86 people in Buffalo as of  Wednesday, according to a press release.

At least 70% of roadways had been cleared in the city Wednesday as hundreds of vehicles sat stranded or abandoned, said Brown.

“Our goal is to get plowing done today,” he said — adding this may be the worst storm the city has seen “in recorded history.”

Critics say authorities failed to handle the storm properly.

AFP via Getty Images

He added, “Loss of life during this winter storm is a very, very painful thing.”

Of the 37 people who died in Erie County, 17 were found outside, 4 suffered cardiac events while shoveling or blowing snow, 3 died after an EMS delay, 9 had no heat, and 4 were found in a vehicle, Poloncarz tweeted Wednesday.

A 27-year-old man also perished in nearby Niagara County from carbon monoxide poisoning, possibly from a generator.

Critics have slammed local officials for issuing a travel ban just 41 minutes before the storm hit Friday, leaving drivers who’d already headed out to work trapped in deadly conditions.

Poloncarz later insisted to The Post that “the preparation was good” but the blizzard struck sooner than expected.

On Wednesday, at least 881 people were still without power in Erie and Niagara counties as temperatures were forecast to rise above freezing, creating a flooding risk.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/28/buffalo-residents-stranded-without-food-as-storm-death-toll-rises-to-35/