BUFFALO, N.Y. — In the aftermath of the devastating blizzard in December, the city of Buffalo has released its own report on how it prepared for and responded to the storm.
The blizzard took the lives of nearly 50 people in Western New York and shut down the city of Buffalo for days.
"It’s all about learning from this situation and building so we’re better off in the future," said Bryan Bollman, councilmember serving Buffalo's Lovejoy District.
The office of Mayor Byron Brown sent a report on how it handled the storm to members of Buffalo Common Council members this week. In all, the cost to the city is more than $10 million, including overtime, damage to city buildings and vehicles, contractors for snow removal and towing services.
"It's tough to spend that amount of money, but at that point, we were working on saving lives I believe," said Bollman.
Saving lives is at the heart of Bollman’s thoughts on being better prepared for the next major storm. The city’s report says the blizzard exposed a need to strengthen city buildings for extreme weather and loss of power, and explore installing generator hook-ups and buying generators.
After some warming shelters in the city lost power, Bollman has proposed a resolution to look at adding more shelters throughout the city, backed up with generators, staff and communication plans when disasters happen.
"I understand it costs money," Bollman said. "I understand it costs resources, but we’re dealing with lives right now and I’m just looking at anything we can do to better save residents and work for the residents in the city of Buffalo."
The report outlines the measures the city took to warn residents of the severity of the storm and keep them updated through alerts and social media. Bollman says communication has improved, but it’s important to reach as many people as possible.
"One thing we’re missing, right, [is] the older residents who aren’t tuned in," said Bollman. "So we actually had [a] discussion with 311 and other agencies as to how can we better get the message to the residents."
The dangerous whiteout conditions and heavy snow made it difficult for police, fire and emergency responders to reach all the people who needed help. While many lives were saved, some were not able to be rescued. Bollman would like to see better equipment and vehicles added to the fleet to deal with the conditions.
"Being able to get to residents in these types of situations and I’m sure we can find alternate uses too," said Bollman. "So I’m not afraid to stock up these stations and have alternate resources available."
In the wake of the storm, Common Council and the city also agreed to create a fleet manager position and have an emergency services coordinator.