Stranded motorists vent on the radio
Updated: Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 6:52 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 6:07 PM EST
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/weather/winter_weather/Stranded-motorists-vent-on-the-radioPublished : Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 6:07 PM EST
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - WBEN Radio took calls all morning from frustrated motorists who were stuck on the thruway with nowhere to go.
There's a real sense of outrage among motorists who were trapped on the thruway in their cars. It's hard for many of us to imagine what it's like to be stuck for more than 12 hours. Stranded motorist were beyond the frustration point, and were worried about not getting "the basics."
Will said, "If the State Police and the Thruway Authority can't handle this, call in the National Guard. We're going on 13 hours out here with no food, no water, no lavatory facilities. It's like a third world country."
Elizabeth got on the thruway at 7:15 Wednesday night, about 15 hours before she called from Blasdell.
"I'm a little frustrated because I'm only 24-years-old and I had the foresight when I heard a storm coming to put a snow brush, a blanket, and a shovel in my car, so why didn't this New York State Authority with all of these people who lived through the Blizzard of '77 have the foresight: "Hey maybe we need some extra shovels." Right now they are just digging out one car at a time. We've got a thousand people stranded here. I say why not 500 of us, why not give us 500 shovels. We can just work our way back," said Elizabeth.
She said people who got out of their cars to try and help others were ordered back into their cars. Officials were more concerned that stranded cars could tie up the situation even worse.
A major complaint from drivers seemed to question what appeared be a lack of official direction in the crisis. They are hoping something will be done to prevent this kind of crisis from happening again.
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Depew buried and under driving ban
Updated: Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 7:08 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 7:08 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 7:08 PM EST
DEPEW, N.Y. (WIVB) - In the suburbs, Depew was one of the hardest hit areas, where a driving ban is in effect until 6 a.m. on Friday tomorrow. But some areas saw barely any snow.
It's hard to believe, but there is snow up to your waist and snow banks piled high enough to bury cars and trucks. The village of Depew was buried under close to three feet of snow, leaving folks wondering if it was ever going to stop.
Mike Bleasdale said, "We go out, get it clean, go in and get something to eat. Come back out, put the stuff in the driveway, come back out. That's all you can do!"
After the state thruway was shut down, traffic was diverted onto Depew's main thoroughfares, leading to gridlock. And as drivers took side streets, to avoid those backups, they got stuck.
With crews pre-occupied keeping the main thoroughfares, such as Broadway in Depew, open, many of the side streets, such as Keefer, were virtually untouched. Not only that, there is a four-foot barrier of snow piled up that is blocking the street. Depew officials were overwhelmed.
Director of Emergency Management Mike Moskal said, "We have declared a Limited State of Emergency so that we can utilize our public works mutual aid plan. We've reached out to some of the towns in the northtowns to try and give us a hand."
Later in the morning, Amherst sent three town snowplow crews, two frontloaders, and contractors to help Depew dig itself out. Abandoned vehicles were towed to open up side streets that were virtually impassable.
Depew Police Capt. Stan Carwile said, "They are not parking right up to the curbs, and you might have two cars parked on ech side of the road, so now the plow cannot pass through that particular road."
A semi-tractor came all the way from New Jersey, but the snow kept driver Jaime Restrepo from delivering the goods until Friday.
Restrepo said, "They said no way to get in there. They don't know if tomorrow they can take me. So I have to stay overnight around here."
A few minutes later, a tow truck showed up and got Restrepo on his way. The snow did take its toll on some of Depew's snow removal equipment, with a couple of trucks getting knocked out of service. Again, the driving ban remains in effect until 6:00 Friday morning.
It's hard to believe, but there is snow up to your waist and snow banks piled high enough to bury cars and trucks. The village of Depew was buried under close to three feet of snow, leaving folks wondering if it was ever going to stop.
Mike Bleasdale said, "We go out, get it clean, go in and get something to eat. Come back out, put the stuff in the driveway, come back out. That's all you can do!"
After the state thruway was shut down, traffic was diverted onto Depew's main thoroughfares, leading to gridlock. And as drivers took side streets, to avoid those backups, they got stuck.
With crews pre-occupied keeping the main thoroughfares, such as Broadway in Depew, open, many of the side streets, such as Keefer, were virtually untouched. Not only that, there is a four-foot barrier of snow piled up that is blocking the street. Depew officials were overwhelmed.
Director of Emergency Management Mike Moskal said, "We have declared a Limited State of Emergency so that we can utilize our public works mutual aid plan. We've reached out to some of the towns in the northtowns to try and give us a hand."
Later in the morning, Amherst sent three town snowplow crews, two frontloaders, and contractors to help Depew dig itself out. Abandoned vehicles were towed to open up side streets that were virtually impassable.
Depew Police Capt. Stan Carwile said, "They are not parking right up to the curbs, and you might have two cars parked on ech side of the road, so now the plow cannot pass through that particular road."
A semi-tractor came all the way from New Jersey, but the snow kept driver Jaime Restrepo from delivering the goods until Friday.
Restrepo said, "They said no way to get in there. They don't know if tomorrow they can take me. So I have to stay overnight around here."
A few minutes later, a tow truck showed up and got Restrepo on his way. The snow did take its toll on some of Depew's snow removal equipment, with a couple of trucks getting knocked out of service. Again, the driving ban remains in effect until 6:00 Friday morning.
Copyright WIVB.com
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CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano reported from West Seneca on the CBS Evening News Thursday night.
Quijano said, "To me, what's so unusual about this, everyone knows that people in Buffalo can handle snow. So when you hear about people trapped in their cars on an interstate, the big question is: how did this happen? And I think for a national audience that really is the question here, is how did it get to be that so many cars kept piling up behind after this accident happened? Why wasn't the thruway shut down and no other cars allowed to enter, because we all know lake effect snow can roll in very quickly as happened here, two feet of snow, I hear."
The Weather Channel also reported from WNY Thursday night.
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Downtown Buffalo was largely spared, but dozens of schools canceled classes and more were scheduled to be closed on Friday.
"I'm pretty chilly, hungry. A nice cup of coffee would do pretty well right now," he said by cell phone.
Driving restrictions were in place in southern Buffalo and suburban Cheektowaga, Depew, Lancaster and West Seneca, where bands of snow hung stubbornly overhead.
A snow warning was in effect until late Thursday night, with several more inches possible before the storm was expected to drift south, meteorologists said.
Additional snow was in Friday's forecast, though in lesser amounts.
In Cattaraugus County on New York's southwestern edge, flooding was the problem following heavy rain.
Two emergency shelters were opened, in Olean and Portville, as the Allegheny River reached moderate flood stage. Between 50 and 100 homes were affected, said Stephanie Timblin, spokeswoman for the county's Office of Emergency Services.
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CBS Evening News covers thruway snafu
Updated: Friday, 03 Dec 2010, 1:46 AM EST
Published : Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 11:03 PM EST
WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WIVB) - The snowbound snafu on the state thruway drew the attention of national media Thursday night.Published : Thursday, 02 Dec 2010, 11:03 PM EST
CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano reported from West Seneca on the CBS Evening News Thursday night.
Quijano said, "To me, what's so unusual about this, everyone knows that people in Buffalo can handle snow. So when you hear about people trapped in their cars on an interstate, the big question is: how did this happen? And I think for a national audience that really is the question here, is how did it get to be that so many cars kept piling up behind after this accident happened? Why wasn't the thruway shut down and no other cars allowed to enter, because we all know lake effect snow can roll in very quickly as happened here, two feet of snow, I hear."
The Weather Channel also reported from WNY Thursday night.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. — A western New York highway that was closed for over 24 hours because of an accident that left trucks and cars stranded in heavy snow was reopened Friday morning, state police said.
A Lake Erie-fed storm that began Wednesday and continued through Thursday buried parts of Buffalo and some suburbs under more than two feet of snow. Downtown Buffalo was largely spared, but dozens of schools canceled classes and more were scheduled to be closed on Friday.
Police closed Interstate 90 about 3 a.m. ET Thursday after a truck jackknifed the previous evening and vehicles became backed up and buried in blowing snow, State Trooper Daniel Golinski said.
Drivers also were stranded on a 3-mile stretch of Interstate 190.
Golinski described the scene overnight as "13 miles of bumper-to-bumper cars, two lanes each — three lanes each depending on where they are."
Though parts of I-90, better known as the New York Thruway, were reopened by midday, an 11-mile stretch remained closed as darkness fell.
Traffic, mostly big rigs, was backed up for about 2 miles in the eastbound lanes and a mile headed west after sunset.
The rest of the highway was reopened at 6:15 a.m. ET on Friday.
The snowfall was expected to stop early Friday after leaving another 4 to 8 inches, which would total up to 32 inches for some communities.
'Stuff happens' Jack Geiselman, who was stranded for 14 hours in 32-degree weather, took it all in stride.
"I tend not to be a ranter-and-raver about things and the point is, it's nothing I have any control over," the 60-year-old semi-retired civil engineer said. "I guess the way I look at it is, it's over. I guess stuff happens. It's not the end of the world."
Geiselman was traveling in a Honda Civic from Keene, N.Y., to Cleveland with his black lab Boomer to help his daughter get her house ready for a baby due between Christmas and New Year.
He had with him a sleeping bag and plenty of warm clothing and gas. He said state troopers came by with coffee and food for people in cars.
Emergency crews on ATVs passed out water and protein bars, and buses picked up motorists and delivered them to a shelter at a senior citizen center.
State Police had no reports of medical emergencies, although one older motorist who uses oxygen was among the stranded and was taken to safety, said Capt. Michael Nigrelli.
Not to be discouraged, two truck drivers who left their tandems idling in the morning tramped through the snow for about half a mile to pick up a breakfast sandwich and coffee off the highway. They seemed almost cheerful despite the hit on their livelihood.
"The wheels are not moving and we're making nothing," said Don Lanphere, 51, a trucker for 32 years who was hauling dog food. "The only guys making money are the plow operators."
"I had the radio on listening," said Curt Doverspike, 40, a trucker from Jamestown. "They said we should be getting out soon. Nothing ever happened so we just went to bed, woke up this morning. We're just kind of used to it."
He said regular travelers were venting their frustrations but the truck drivers were calmer.
"There's traffic jams, accidents all the time," Doverspike said. "You just get used to it. I guess it's easier for us than those in the cars because they get frustrated. We have a bed. If we get bored, we lay down and go to bed."
In need of 'nice cup of a coffee' Nigrelli said the combination of fast-falling snow and the large number of commercial vehicles — many of which had to be towed out after the snow piled up around them — made re-opening the road slow-going.
"Unfortunately, that's not something that can be undone very quickly," he said.
Drivers also were stranded on a 3-mile stretch of Interstate 190.
Golinski described the scene overnight as "13 miles of bumper-to-bumper cars, two lanes each — three lanes each depending on where they are."
Though parts of I-90, better known as the New York Thruway, were reopened by midday, an 11-mile stretch remained closed as darkness fell.
Traffic, mostly big rigs, was backed up for about 2 miles in the eastbound lanes and a mile headed west after sunset.
The rest of the highway was reopened at 6:15 a.m. ET on Friday.
The snowfall was expected to stop early Friday after leaving another 4 to 8 inches, which would total up to 32 inches for some communities.
'Stuff happens' Jack Geiselman, who was stranded for 14 hours in 32-degree weather, took it all in stride.
"I tend not to be a ranter-and-raver about things and the point is, it's nothing I have any control over," the 60-year-old semi-retired civil engineer said. "I guess the way I look at it is, it's over. I guess stuff happens. It's not the end of the world."
Geiselman was traveling in a Honda Civic from Keene, N.Y., to Cleveland with his black lab Boomer to help his daughter get her house ready for a baby due between Christmas and New Year.
He had with him a sleeping bag and plenty of warm clothing and gas. He said state troopers came by with coffee and food for people in cars.
Emergency crews on ATVs passed out water and protein bars, and buses picked up motorists and delivered them to a shelter at a senior citizen center.
State Police had no reports of medical emergencies, although one older motorist who uses oxygen was among the stranded and was taken to safety, said Capt. Michael Nigrelli.
Not to be discouraged, two truck drivers who left their tandems idling in the morning tramped through the snow for about half a mile to pick up a breakfast sandwich and coffee off the highway. They seemed almost cheerful despite the hit on their livelihood.
"The wheels are not moving and we're making nothing," said Don Lanphere, 51, a trucker for 32 years who was hauling dog food. "The only guys making money are the plow operators."
"I had the radio on listening," said Curt Doverspike, 40, a trucker from Jamestown. "They said we should be getting out soon. Nothing ever happened so we just went to bed, woke up this morning. We're just kind of used to it."
He said regular travelers were venting their frustrations but the truck drivers were calmer.
"There's traffic jams, accidents all the time," Doverspike said. "You just get used to it. I guess it's easier for us than those in the cars because they get frustrated. We have a bed. If we get bored, we lay down and go to bed."
In need of 'nice cup of a coffee' Nigrelli said the combination of fast-falling snow and the large number of commercial vehicles — many of which had to be towed out after the snow piled up around them — made re-opening the road slow-going.
"Unfortunately, that's not something that can be undone very quickly," he said.
Some truckers left the road to find refuge at truck stops, parking lots and city streets, but most kept their rigs parked on the highway, especially the tandem drivers.
Matt Welling was hauling a double tractor-trailer full of groceries when traffic came to a standstill.
He spent the night "sitting back, playing a little Solitaire on the computer, taking a nap," the Wegmans driver said after more than eight hours stuck on the road. Matt Welling was hauling a double tractor-trailer full of groceries when traffic came to a standstill.
"I'm pretty chilly, hungry. A nice cup of coffee would do pretty well right now," he said by cell phone.
Driving restrictions were in place in southern Buffalo and suburban Cheektowaga, Depew, Lancaster and West Seneca, where bands of snow hung stubbornly overhead.
A snow warning was in effect until late Thursday night, with several more inches possible before the storm was expected to drift south, meteorologists said.
Additional snow was in Friday's forecast, though in lesser amounts.
In Cattaraugus County on New York's southwestern edge, flooding was the problem following heavy rain.
Two emergency shelters were opened, in Olean and Portville, as the Allegheny River reached moderate flood stage. Between 50 and 100 homes were affected, said Stephanie Timblin, spokeswoman for the county's Office of Emergency Services.
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Snow mounds grow as frustration mounts
Updated: Saturday, 04 Dec 2010, 6:34 PM EST
Published : Saturday, 04 Dec 2010, 6:29 PM EST
Published : Saturday, 04 Dec 2010, 6:29 PM EST
SOUTH BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The big dig continues because some residents in South Buffalo and the southtowns are still snowed-in. Road crews are making significant progress, but many homeowners are still frustrated.
Dump trucks have been working all day on clearing out the snow, bringing in load after load only to come back with more. The Mayor of Buffalo tells News 4 that snow plows have now reached every street in South Buffalo and Lovejoy. People on Cable Street said it was the first time they'd seen a plow since Wednesday.
Martin Niwinski said, "I got out of work Wednesday and had to leave my car. I had to walk home until I dug it out."
Robert Manion has his work cut out for him. Even though the street has been plowed, he still has to remove the snow from his property. So he shovels it, puts it in a wheelbarrow, and makes his way to dump it at the end of his driveway.
"There's no other way because it's so tough down there so you can't use a snow blower. It's too compact, it's too wet, so the snow blower won't do anything," said Manion.
News 4 has received numerous complaints from residents in South Buffalo and Lackawanna. They say they're frustrated they had to wait so long for the snowplows. They're still showing patience. A few hours each day gives them some progress, but as they go back and forth on the street, residents have noticed another issue.
Niwinski said, "I just hope they don't leave it like this because I don't really feel like shoveling anymore."
"The plow comes down, piles it up, puts it right on the sidewalk," said Tom Linkowski.
Cable Street was one of the last streets to be cleared. We've been told no one else in South Buffalo should be buried underneath the snow. Mayor Brown is asking residents to begin shoveling sidewalks as snow removal continues. Garbage pick-up will still be on the Monday schedule and starting Monday, all 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on street parking regulations will resume in Lovejoy and South Buffalo.
Dump trucks have been working all day on clearing out the snow, bringing in load after load only to come back with more. The Mayor of Buffalo tells News 4 that snow plows have now reached every street in South Buffalo and Lovejoy. People on Cable Street said it was the first time they'd seen a plow since Wednesday.
Martin Niwinski said, "I got out of work Wednesday and had to leave my car. I had to walk home until I dug it out."
Robert Manion has his work cut out for him. Even though the street has been plowed, he still has to remove the snow from his property. So he shovels it, puts it in a wheelbarrow, and makes his way to dump it at the end of his driveway.
"There's no other way because it's so tough down there so you can't use a snow blower. It's too compact, it's too wet, so the snow blower won't do anything," said Manion.
News 4 has received numerous complaints from residents in South Buffalo and Lackawanna. They say they're frustrated they had to wait so long for the snowplows. They're still showing patience. A few hours each day gives them some progress, but as they go back and forth on the street, residents have noticed another issue.
Niwinski said, "I just hope they don't leave it like this because I don't really feel like shoveling anymore."
"The plow comes down, piles it up, puts it right on the sidewalk," said Tom Linkowski.
Cable Street was one of the last streets to be cleared. We've been told no one else in South Buffalo should be buried underneath the snow. Mayor Brown is asking residents to begin shoveling sidewalks as snow removal continues. Garbage pick-up will still be on the Monday schedule and starting Monday, all 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on street parking regulations will resume in Lovejoy and South Buffalo.
Copyright WIVB.com
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