It's winter in the Buffalo Area!!!
They're calling this storm Snowvember, the Snowpocalypse, and Winter Storm Knife.
They're saying this storm is significantly worse than the Blizzard of '77 in regards to snowfall and drifts.
Governor Cuomo, Erie County Exec. Mark Poloncarz,and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown have declared a State of Emergency since Monday night. (It's Friday!)
Poloncarz deployed the National Guard Tuesday, and they were in service around the Buffalo area by Tuesday night.
Fire departments from all over New York State have been helping out our area to start digging out. Even the FDNY has a crew up here! Shout out!
Apparently Cuomo or Senator Schumer talked to President Obama, who is apparently "concerned", and might declare it a federal disaster and send in FEMA resources.
Death toll is 12 at the moment.
Forecasts of snow were being predicted in FEET, not INCHES! Totals have started coming in, and so far, the highest is 86 inches of snow in Hamburg!
Lets start on Saturday, when I came home from a Junior League Bus Tour and found this on my porch.
Okay, no biggie. It's Buffalo, we get snow. Heading on to Monday, I make it to school (most of the snow melted on Sunday, and the snow wasn't predicted to begin until late Monday night). I remember my last class, Honors Colloquium, looking out the window, and thinking that it was nighttime! It got dark so fast that it was a little creepy - only anticipating what was in store for us!
Monday night was the first of the 'bad' days. Alex had Paramedic school that didn't get out until 9:30. His drive home is normally around 25 minutes. He didn't get home until nearly 10:45! He said visibility was horrible. Thank GOD that he didn't have to go back to work until Saturday.
Early Tuesday morning, I got a text saying that school was closed, so I ended up staying in bed for a little bit and woke up to this picture. And it just kept getting worse.
It was decided that it was cuddle day, with lots of tea and blankets. And socks. You know it's cold when I put on socks!
Window was covered in snow, coming in through the screen! Thought it looked a little bit like a leopard print.
Wednesday was Alex's Birthday!!!!! :) And snow day number 2. After having an awesome morning of sleeping in on flannel sheets, we woke up to puppy cuddles, and even more snow.
We had to go out and snow blow the driveway again - this marked the end of part one of the storm. So far, we only had about a foot and a half, and clear roads. There were travel bans in the towns all around us, and even a few had declared a State of Emergency.
We also used this little break in the weather to run to Save a Lot to grab some more essentials. We walked in and there was little to no produce! Okay, fine. So we walked to the back towards the deli & dairy. There were signs saying everything had been moved to the back coolers due to 'cooler issues'. Honestly, there were no cooler issues, just the staff trying to ration what they have, and so people have an equal chance to get what they need. We also got orange cranberry muffins, which Alex wanted instead of a cake for his birthday!
We skyped my Grandparents in NYC when I brought out Alex's muffins and sung Happy Birthday. It was nice to see somewhere that didn't have any snow after seeing the color white all day every day for the past few days!
Throughout the day, we noticed our puppy wasn't 'normal'. He didn't want any peanut butter, he was sleeping all day, not running around, lethargic, and just plain not himself. We ended up driving ourselves to Hamburg Veterinary Office (through a driving ban, which wasn't being reported on the news at the time...) Our little man tweaked his back somehow! He also has a bit of an ear infection. So now ear drops twice a day, and pain meds.
Hamburg was the hardest hit in regards to Part One of the storm - the snow was taller than my vehicle!
We came home and cuddled.
Thursday, we woke up to the start of Part Two of the storm. Mind you, this car was the one we took the night before to the vet's, and it was completely cleared off!!!! Obviously we had some work to do outside. Another day outside snow blowing. Even though it was snowing at rates of 3-5 inches per hour, we knew that if we didn't keep up with it, we wouldn't be able to use our snow blower and we definitely did not want to shovel all that snow if we could avoid it.
The surprising thing is, this entire driveway was cleared off less than nine hours before!
Village of good neighbors: the plowman stopped and helped Alex get the end of the driveway again... Alex had just snow blowed that area.... and then the plow went by. The plow turned around, and helped us out. Thank you awesome plow man!
Giving in. Still awaiting another 2-3 feet.
Our neighbors across the street had a plow come to do their driveway.... Even though there was a driving ban in our town that started 4 hours before, and the Supervisor declared a State of Emergency! The plow ended up getting stuck in their driveway.
Our front porch... by the time we were headed to bed, the snow was over the railings!
Friday: the end? Hardly.
It's amazing to see how much snow actually fell! (And trying to figure out where to put it all is another story!)
Again, the Village of Good Neighbors. Alex had help from two different people to dig out the mailbox, and our neighbors were helped out by someone who rented a frontloader before the snow hit.
I'm glad to say that I love the little village I live in.
I'm extremely thankful that my husband was snowed in right alongside me, safe, warm, and at home.
I'm thankful that the Hamburg Vet was staffed even during a deadly snowstorm.
I'm thankful that my little puppy will be okay.
I'm thankful that my family is home and safe.
I'm thankful that we are okay.
Mom is stuck at home as well, and the plows on her street have her stuck so much that a frontloader can't even remove the snow at the bottom of her driveway. It's that heavy.
Alex's parents and Grandpa are safe and sound inside their houses, both haven't had work.
It's been snowing hard again as I've been writing this - they're saying another 2-4 inches. That's do-able. At least the forecast is back in inches, not feet!
Now to prepare for the weather to get into the 40's and 50's. Flood warnings are starting to go into effect late tonight.
Stay warm, stay safe, stay inside!
Is it time to go back to Pawley's Island yet???
:)
XOXOXO
