World

EXPLAINER: How blizzard stunned even winter-wise Buffalo

Published

2 years ago

December 28, 2022

EXPLAINER: How blizzard stunned even winter-wise Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The toll from the weekend blizzard that hit the Buffalo space was approaching 40 deaths Wednesday from the area’s deadliest storm in generations. Properties are solely starting to heat after days with out warmth. Drivers are nonetheless claiming automobiles that they had deserted.

In a area that prides itself on with the ability to deal with frequent and heavy snowfall, the pure query is: Why was this storm so paralyzing?

Officers word that they declared emergencies, warned residents, and positioned crews and gear effectively earlier than the primary storm winds blew in. However the ferocity of a blizzard packing near-hurricane-force winds and greater than 4 ft (1.2 meters) of snow severely restricted what crews may do, even in responding to 911 calls.

On Wednesday, tensions surfaced between the area’s two high elected officers, with Erie County Government Mark Poloncarz swiping at snow-removal efforts within the county seat of Buffalo, the place a driving ban remained in place and Nationwide Guard troops helped to implement it.

“Town, sadly, is at all times the final one to open,” Poloncarz stated. “It’s embarrassing, to inform you the reality.”

Within the aftermath of the storm, lots of the lifeless had been discovered exterior, and others had been in snow-covered autos and unheated houses. Some had been stricken after clearing snow. Others died whereas awaiting assist throughout a medical disaster.

A take a look at the response and aftermath:

THE FORECAST

Meteorologists noticed it coming. 4 days earlier than the arrival of unhealthy climate, the Nationwide Climate Service on Dec. 19 warned of a strong storm and repeated the warning with rising element every day. An pressing advisory on Dec. 20 warned of blizzard circumstances and heavy snow. By Dec. 21, forecasters termed it a “once-in-a-generation” storm. On Thursday, a blizzard warning was posted to take impact at 7 a.m. Friday, describing heavy snow, excessive winds, windchills of minus 10 to 25 levels (minus 23 to 32 beneath Celsius) and “troublesome to inconceivable journey” by means of Christmas weekend.

PREPARATIONS AND RESPONSE

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, saying “a probably life-threatening storm” was coming, introduced Thursday that town could be beneath a state of emergency as soon as the storm arrived the following morning. Closures of faculties, church buildings and workplaces, together with authorities workplaces in Erie and neighboring Niagara and Chautauqua counties, poured in.

Gov. Kathy Hochul expanded the state of emergency to your entire state Thursday and stated state gear and personnel had been standing by, and the state Thruway Authority — which oversees the interstate highways linking Buffalo to different main cities statewide — introduced business autos could be banned for a stretch within the space at 6 a.m. Friday.

“We extremely suggest personal companies to shut on Friday and Saturday,” Erie County Government Poloncarz stated at a public briefing, utilizing a slideshow for instance the forecast, blizzard circumstances, and risks of frostbite and hypothermia.

By Friday, the county upgraded a journey advisory to a ban — too late, critics stated, for workers who had been instructed to enter work. Poloncarz stated later the intent was to permit third-shift staff to get residence, that circumstances deteriorated extra rapidly than anticipated.

Some folks ventured out anyway. Amongst them was Sean Reisch, a 41-year-old salesman from the suburb of Cheektowaga, who got here to remorse the choice to select up milk and bread Friday afternoon.

“As I pulled on one in every of our essential streets, it was like extremely whiteout circumstances to the purpose the place you actually couldn’t see something.,” he stated.

The shop was closing when he arrived, and when he acquired caught within the car parking zone somebody lent him a shovel to dig out his Nissan Sentra, loaded with presents for his younger kids.

He barely made it residence, sticking his head out the window in a chilly wind that “took your breath away” to dodge drifts. Ultimately he stumbled into his home, surprised.

“I stored saying to my spouse all evening lengthy, ’I don’t suppose you perceive how fortunate I’m to be right here.′ How fortunate? I can’t consider I made it residence by means of all that.”

STORM VETERANS

It’s no shock that getting folks to heed warnings is a problem. However with local weather change intensifying all types of worldwide climate occasions, based on consultants, the stakes are increased.

“Folks are likely to normalize … ‘Nicely, I’ve lived right here all my life. I went by means of the worst blizzard. I do know what I’m doing,’” stated Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Administration Company in the course of the Obama administration. “That is one thing I feel we’re going to actually wrestle with with excessive climate … We’re seeing occasions which can be exceeding our previous experiences, and so they’re exceeding our understanding.”

Fugate pointed to Hurricane Ian’s dying toll in Lee County, Florida, within the fall, and the criticism the county confronted for issuing a compulsory evacuation order simply sooner or later earlier than the storm hit, selecting to attend whereas surrounding counties posted theirs.

With the blizzard arriving on the final purchasing day earlier than Christmas Eve, many staff, some citing the dearth of a driving ban, stated they felt pressured to go to work.

“If there’s criticism that it wasn’t carried out proper, I’ll take it,” Poloncarz responded Wednesday.

THE HOLIDAY

Erie County Emergency Companies Commissioner Dan Neaverth Jr. stated he needed to put his foot all the way down to maintain his circle of relatives members from operating last-minute vacation errands within the storm, one thing a lot of these stranded had been doubtless doing.

“How this fell, precisely the place it did, heading into a vacation weekend,” he stated, “I feel that that had an incredible impression on folks wanting and feeling that want. … however not everyone had the good thing about a father who stated, ‘Completely not, on no account do you have to exit.’”

THE CRITICISM

Some residents of Buffalo, about 27% of whom reside in poverty, bristled at directions to “top off” on meals and drugs earlier than the storm, calling it unrealistic.

Others questioned whether or not the area has sufficient specialised gear to deal with more and more frequent excessive climate after volunteer snowmobile operators and emergency responders from exterior businesses despatched folks and gear. Poloncarz advised Wednesday that the county, with more cash and different assets, ought to take over town’s future storm operations.

As Nationwide Guard members knocked on doorways Wednesday conducting wellness checks, guard spokesperson Eric Durr addressed complaints members didn’t reply to the typically determined pleas filling social media from folks trapped in automobiles, freezing in houses with out energy or struggling medical emergencies.

Hochul had stated Friday that 54 members of the Nationwide Guard and 5 autos could be deployed in Erie County to assist.

At one level Saturday, virtually each fireplace truck in Buffalo was stranded, together with quite a few police autos, and residents of Buffalo and several other suburbs had been instructed emergency providers had been unavailable. Even plows had been pulled from roads.

“If the fireplace division isn’t there, chances are high the Nationwide Guard can’t get there,” Durr stated.

On Saturday, Hochul introduced extra troops. By Tuesday, greater than 500 Nationwide Guard members had been in western New York, her workplace stated.

POLITICAL FALLOUT

Responding to Poloncarz’s critique of town’s response, Brown stated that town bore the brunt of the storm and that its slim residential streets posed challenges. He advised Poloncarz, a fellow Democrat, was “crumbling” beneath stress.

“Some maintain working, some maintain attempting to serving to the residents of our neighborhood,” Brown stated, “and a few break down and lash out.”

“I don’t have any feud,” he stated.

THE FUTURE

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia was amongst these in search of methods to enhance after first responders had been prevented from answering calls, saying “higher gear, extra gear” would assist.

“We by no means thought that it was going to be as unhealthy because it was,” he stated. “So do we’ve got to get higher? Completely.”

Fugate stated FEMA has benefited from speaking with survivors of hurricanes to ask why they made the choices they did.

“We will’t ask that of those that misplaced their lives, however we are able to individuals who had been stranded,” he stated. “We will ask the questions: What extra info did you have to make a greater choice?”

___

Related Press reporter Heather Hollingsworth contributed from Mission, Kansas.

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World

Biden and the first lady bring holiday cheer to patients and families at a children's hospital

Published

6 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Biden and the first lady bring holiday cheer to patients and families at a children's hospital

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, brought some Christmastime cheer to patients and their families at a children’s hospital on Friday but a toddler in a light blue jumper entertained, too.

The president and first lady visited privately with patients and their families for photos at Children’s National Hospital before Jill Biden read “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” to a group of patients in the atrium. As she read, the president, seated beside her in a matching red chair, played a game of catch with the toddler. Biden made faces at the child and at one point briefly got him to sit up on his chair.

“Reading and entertainment,” Jill Biden said after she finished reading. The audience laughed.

The president then asked permission to make a brief statement and sought to lift the children’s spirits, saying he knows it’s a “tough time” for them to be in the hospital.

“Keep the hope,” he said. “You’re in our prayers, you’re in our thoughts, and thank you for letting us join you.”

The visit continued a tradition, dating back to first lady Bess Truman, of presidents’ wives bringing holiday cheer to children who are too ill to be at home for Christmas.

President Biden has joined his wife on all four of her annual visits. It has not gone unnoticed.

“We’ve never had a president join for four years in a row straight, so you have set a high bar,” Michelle Riley-Brown, president and CEO of the hospital, told him.

World

Justin Trudeau looks set to lose power after key ally vows to topple him

Published

7 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Justin Trudeau looks set to lose power after key ally vows to topple him

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday looked set to lose power early next year after a key ally said he would move to bring down the minority Liberal government and trigger an election.

New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, who has been helping keep Trudeau in office, said he would present a formal motion of no-confidence after the House of Commons elected chamber returns from a winter break on Jan. 27.

NEWT GINGRICH SAYS TRUMP MAY HAVE ‘BROKEN’ TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT DURING HISTORIC TRANSITION PERIOD

If all the opposition parties back the motion, Trudeau will be out of office after more than nine years as prime minister and an election will take place.

A string of polls over the last 18 months show the Liberals, suffering from voter fatigue and anger over high prices and a housing crisis, would be badly defeated by the official opposition right-of-center Conservatives.

The New Democrats, who like the Liberals aim to attract the support of center-left voters, complain Trudeau is too beholden to big business.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the Liberal party caucus meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada December 16, 2024. (REUTERS/Blair Gable/File Photo)

“No matter who is leading the Liberal Party, this government’s time is up. We will put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons,” said Singh.

The leader of the Bloc Quebecois, a larger opposition party, promised to back the motion and said there was no scenario where Trudeau survived. The Conservatives have been calling for an election for months.

A few minutes after Singh issued his letter a smiling Trudeau, under growing pressure to quit after the shock resignation of his finance minister this week, presided over a cabinet shuffle.

Trudeau’s office was not immediately available for comment.

Votes on budgets and other spending are considered confidence measures. Additionally, the government must allocate a few days each session to opposition parties when they can unveil motions on any matter, including non-confidence.

Before Singh made his announcement, a source close to Trudeau said the prime minister would take the Christmas break to ponder his future and was unlikely to make any announcement before January.

Liberal leaders are elected by special conventions of party members, which take months to arrange.

Singh’s promise to act quickly means that even if Trudeau were to resign now, the Liberals could not find a new permanent leader in time for the next election. The party would then have to contest the vote with an interim leader, which has never happened before in Canada.

So far around 20 Liberal legislators are openly calling for Trudeau to step down but his cabinet has stayed loyal.

The timing of the crisis comes at a critical time, since U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is due to take office on Jan. 20 and is promising to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada, which would badly hurt the economy.

The premiers of the 10 provinces, seeking to create a united approach to the tariffs, are complaining about what they call the chaos in Ottawa.

World

Italy's Deputy PM Salvini found not guilty in Open Arms migrants case

Published

7 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Italy's Deputy PM Salvini found not guilty in Open Arms migrants case

The leader of Italy’s right-wing Lega Party and Giorgia Meloni’s ally, Matteo Salvini, had been accused of kidnapping and dereliction of duty over his refusal to let a migrant rescue boat dock in Italy in 2019.

A court in Sicily found Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini not guilty of kidnap for detaining 100 migrants aboard a humanitarian rescue ship in 2019 incident when he was interior minister.

“I am happy. After three years, Lega has won, Italy has won. Defending the homeland is not a crime but a right. I will go forward with more determination than before,” Salvini said following the verdict.

In August 2019, an NGO ship called Open Arms was carrying 147 migrants from the Libyan coast when Salvini prevented it from docking on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The Open Arms remained at sea for almost three weeks, with the NGO reporting those on board endured dire circumstances leading to medical emergencies and deteriorated mental health. Some threw themselves overboard, and several minors were evacuated during the standoff.

Eventually, the prosecutor in the Sicilian city of Agrigento, Luigi Patronaggio, ordered the vessel to be preventively seized after inspecting it. The remaining 89 people onboard were allowed to disembark.

Salvini, who leads the anti-migrant, Euroskeptic Lega party, has argued that the then-government of Giuseppe Conte backed him fully in his mission to “close the ports” of Italy to rescue ships carrying migrants found at sea.

Arriving at the courthouse on Friday morning, he said it was a beautiful day “because I am proud to have defended my country. I would do what I did again.”

Last week, he told a rally that “defending the borders, the dignity, the laws, the honour of a country cannot ever be a crime.”

Open Arms’ Italian lawyer, Arturo Salerni, has argued Salvini failed in his duty as a public official to protect the human rights of those on board the ship. Prosecutors during the trial say that those stranded at sea should have had their human rights protected over “state sovereignty.”

“A person stranded at sea must be saved and it is irrelevant whether they are classified as a migrant, a crewmember or a passenger,” Prosecutor Geri Ferrara told the court in September.

Meloni’s support

Salvini had said he would be unlikely to step down in the case of a guilty verdict over five years, which would have automatically barred him from office.

He has the support of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who earlier this year said in a post on X that “turning the duty to protect Italy’s borders from illegal immigration into a crime is a very serious precedent.”

She never indicated she would expect his resignation, but on Wednesday, she told the Italian Senate that Salvini has the “solidarity of the entire government”.

Meloni has moved to crack down on migration since taking power in 2022, striking deals with northern African countries in a bid to prevent migrants from departing and setting up a landmark scheme with Albanian leader Edi Rama to process asylum applications in so-called “return hubs” away from Italian soil.

The deal has gained traction across European member states, although it has since become a legal nightmare for Meloni after 24 asylum seekers who were sent to Albania were promptly sent back to Italy after a Roman court declared the scheme unlawful.

The standoff between Open Arms and Salvini was one of over 20 during his tenure as interior minister from 2018 to 2019, where he took a hardline stance against migration. At the time, he repeatedly closed Italian ports to humanitarian rescue ships and accused NGOs that rescued migrants of effectively encouraging human traffickers.

In one incident, now-MEP Carola Rackete entered the port of Lampedusa against Salvini’s orders after declaring a state of emergency on her boat.

She was soon arrested on charges of illegal migration that were eventually dropped.