Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke to Spectrum News 1 Saturday evening to provide an update on the winter storm impacting parts of New York state.
“This storm seems to be unrelenting,” Hochul said. “It is a historic blizzard. And the visibility is so incredibly dangerous even as we speak.”
The governor says emergency crews have been making hundreds of rescues throughout the day Saturday, while the National Guard has been brought in to help transport doctors, nurses and people with medical emergencies to hospitals and visiting stranded vehicles.
“We’re making progress in some of the hardest hit areas – Tonawanda, Cheektowaga, Lackawanna and Genesee County.”
Hochul says 100 National Guard members will be on the ground Sunday, with more than 200 on the ground Monday.
“We have the resources,” Hochul said. “We have the people on the ground. We have the supplies. But when there’s blinding wind and zero visibility, no one can plow.”
Hochul says officials have worked to restore power to more than 300,000 homes that lost power, and that 93% of households in Erie County have power, while 16% of the city of Buffalo still lacks power as of Saturday evening.
“We’ll be out reaching everyone,” she said. “We hope to hit everyone by morning who is abandoned and stranded right now in these vehicles.”