City of Buffalo unveils new winter snow plan after last year's deadly blizzard
Mayor Byron Brown says new equipment, shelters, and especially communication plans will help ensure Buffalo, New York, is better prepared in the case of a blizzard like the one that buried the town in 2022.
Transcript
00:00 Well, this week, the city of Buffalo
00:01 announced a new winter snow plan.
00:04 This comes after the city's historic
00:05 and deadly late December blizzard,
00:08 where more than 30 Buffalo residents sadly died last year.
00:12 Joining us now is Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
00:15 Mayor Brown, thanks so much for making time for us.
00:17 - Good to be with you.
00:19 - Oh, it's good to be with you as well.
00:20 What lessons were learned from last year's storm
00:23 that is reflected in this new winter snow plan?
00:26 - Number of lessons.
00:28 Probably the biggest was communication,
00:31 being able to communicate directly with the residents,
00:35 making sure that the communication
00:37 fit the magnitude of the storm.
00:40 We had two historic storms last year
00:43 in November and December.
00:45 The December blizzard called
00:47 a once-in-a-generation blizzard.
00:49 We needed to be more emphatic in letting people know
00:53 that if they went out in those weather conditions,
00:57 it could cause serious injury or death.
01:00 We have upgraded our plan
01:02 to have three phases of storm response,
01:06 the third phase being a response to blizzards,
01:10 and really communicating in a variety of different ways
01:14 with residents the magnitude of the storm
01:17 that they will be facing.
01:19 - And what do you see as the most important change
01:22 heading into the winter snow season?
01:25 - We have more equipment.
01:27 We have emergency shelters
01:30 in every one of our city council districts.
01:34 We have an IPAWS system
01:38 working with county, state, and federal government
01:40 where we will push out extreme weather alerts
01:45 to people with mobile devices.
01:47 So those are some of the major changes
01:50 that we've made to the snow plan.
01:52 - That all makes great sense.
01:53 We wish you the absolute best
01:55 through the upcoming winter season.
01:57 Mayor Byron Brown from Buffalo, New York.
01:59 Thank you, Mayor Brown.
02:01 - Thank you very much.