At least 47 people have died in Erie and Niagara counties due to the Christmas weekend blizzard that paralyzed the City of Buffalo for six days.
Here's what we know so far about the lives that were lost.
Monique Alexander, 52, died in the December 2022 blizzard in Buffalo.
Monique Alexander, 52, a housekeeper and home care aide, left her Buffalo home at around 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve. She was found dead, partly buried in snow on Delaware Avenue, by a man who carried her body to a nearby shop with an awning to protect her from the elements.
Loretta M. Andrews, 57, was found dead in her Winslow Avenue home in Buffalo on Dec. 28 by National Guard members doing welfare checks, according to Buffalo police. Her residence did not have heat when she was found, according to a Health Department record.
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Jimmy Batchelor, 73, was rescued by a passing motorist who saw him fall in snow on Christmas Eve. But he died in the back seat of her car when it got stuck near Jefferson Avenue and Best Street in Buffalo.
Randy E. Blake Jr., 64, died on Millicent Avenue. Buffalo police indicate he was found at a home there on Christmas Eve. The Health Department indicated he was found outside on Dec. 26, and that date is listed as his date of death in his obituary.
Dr. Michael Bloom, 69, was found outside on The Hamlet, a street in Amherst, on Jan. 2.
Erwin Busch, 84, was found in a house with no heat on Longnecker Street in Buffalo on Dec. 26.
Sophia Clay says her brother, William, died in the blizzard. She said he was a lifelong Buffalo resident who played football for Burgard Vocational High School and was a retired truck driver.
William Clay, a retired truck driver and father of two sons, was planning to celebrate his 56th birthday on Christmas Eve. His family believes his was the body found outside around 2 a.m. that day near a convenience store at Kensington and Bailey.
Robert Coho died shoveling snow on Christmas. The Vietnam War veteran was 73.
Robert D. Coho, 73, died on Christmas after he collapsed at 1:09 p.m. while shoveling snow in his Amherst driveway. His wife found him face down and unresponsive, Amherst police said.
Cindy Colin, 66, died in her house with no heat on Seneca Street in Buffalo on Dec. 26. Her daughter Nikki Demers, a resident of Winston-Salem, N.C., said she last heard from her mother on Christmas Eve. A social worker who worked regularly with Colin had contacted Buffalo police to secure a welfare check, but no one was available to check on her, Demers said.
Gary Cooper, 65, was found in a house with no heat on Memorial Drive in Buffalo on Dec. 26.
Lederise Curry, 46, died early Dec. 26 from an apparent asthma attack. Emergency responders were slowed in reaching her home due to post-blizzard conditions.
Harrison Davis, 66, was found outside in the parking lot of East Community High School on Northampton Street in Buffalo on Christmas.
Harry Donahue, 50, was found in a house with no heat on Gelston Street in Buffalo on Christmas.
Rafael Dones-Penaloza, 44, was found in snow, hit by a high lift vehicle, on Whitney Place in Buffalo, on Dec. 26.
Carolyn Eubanks' sons drove for 7 hours on Christmas Eve to reach her Buffalo home after it lost the electrical power needed to run her oxygen machine. The 63-year-old great-grandmother collapsed as they walked through deep snow to their car. After efforts to revive her failed, two strangers sheltered Eubanks' body at their Ideal Street home for an entire day until first responders could take her to Erie County Medical Center's morgue.
Abdifatah Fithar was found in the street in the 600 block of Elk Street on Christmas morning by a National Fuel crew, according to Buffalo police.
A screenshot showing Kennedi Gaines, 3, who died Jan. 3 after drowning in a pool at a Buffalo area hotel where her family sought refuge after their home lost power during the Buffalo blizzard in December 2022.
Kennedi Gaines, 3, died Jan. 3, days after she was pulled unconscious from a pool at a hotel where her family was staying because their house lost power.
Stephen Guard and his girlfriend, Kristi Johnson, were found dead in a tent in a backyard of a Buffalo house, according to Johnson's daughter, Kairi Wilder. She said she was told the couple died from hypothermia suffered during the blizzard that hit Buffalo on Dec. 23, 2022.
A homeless couple, Stephen D. Guard, 55, and Kristi Johnson, 43, were found dead together in a tent in a Buffalo yard off of Normal Avenue, near Connecticut Street, on Jan. 3. Jackson's daughter, Kairi Locklyn Wilder, said she was told they died of hypothermia during the blizzard.
James Gauthier, 63, found in a snowbank on Williamstown Court, Cheektowaga, on Christmas Eve.
Timothy J. Hartnett, 67, died Christmas morning after he felt ill while snowblowing his driveway in Amherst, went inside and collapsed.
Stacie L. Hood, 53, was found dead in snow in a driveway on Bush Street in Buffalo on Dec. 26, according to a Buffalo police report. She lived on Grand Cayman island in the Caribbean Sea for 30 years, working there as a dive instructor. It was not clear when Hood moved to Buffalo.
Tiffany Huff, 41, was found in a car with possible carbon monoxide poisoning on Sumner Place in Buffalo on Dec. 27.
Bessie Milhouse, 87, was a possible hypothermia death, found in a house on Leroy Avenue in Buffalo on Dec. 27.
Derrick Monroe, 62, was found in snow in the 1900 block of Main Street in Buffalo on Dec. 27.
Melissa Morrison, 46, was found outside at Bailey Avenue and Seneca Street in Buffalo on Christmas.
Timothy M. Murphy, 27, was found dead Christmas Day in a Lockport home, and authorities suspect it was from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by heavy snow covering the external furnace. Murphy is the only known blizzard fatality in Niagara County. A woman also found at the home, identified as Kathy D. Murphy, was in the intensive care unit at Mount St. Mary's Hospital.
Asenith Musiel, 75, was found by her son in her house with no heat on Erb Street in Buffalo on Dec. 26. “The cold definitely affected her,” said her son, Joseph Musiel. “She was just saying, ‘I’m so cold.’ I said, 'I know mom, we gotta wait until the power come back on. You gotta fight it out.' ”
Kevin O'Sullivan, 55, was found under a bridge near Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park in Buffalo on Dec. 26.
Edward "Terry" Parson Jr., 74, who ran a dry cleaner and a tavern on Buffalo's East Side for years, was found dead Dec. 28, 2022, in his unheated apartment, which had lost power during the Buffalo blizzard. He was identified as one of the people who died due to the blizzard in a list Erie County prepared.
Edward "Terry" Parson Jr., 74, was found in an apartment with no heat in the 700 block of Broadway in Buffalo on Dec. 28.
Joan Ranke, 87, was found dead in her house at 10:55 a.m. on Christmas by Snyder Fire Department firefighters. Snyder firefighters had been unable to get to Ranke's house two days earlier when she called for help because the heavy snow made the roads impassable, Amherst police said. Ranke had called 911 on Dec. 23, saying she was not feeling well and was mixed up.
Relatives believe Demetrius Robinson tried to walk on Dec. 23 to a convenience store near his Buffalo residence, possibly to buy cigarettes. His body was found Christmas Day – the day before his 59th birthday – in a snowbank on Clinton Street near Jefferson Avenue, not far from his apartment, according to his sister.
Juanita Robinson, 66, was found dead on Christmas in the snow near her apartment on Niagara Street, according to her sister. She had walked to a store to get groceries.
Abdul Sharifu
Abdul Sharifu, whose pregnant wife was due to give birth to his first child within days, left his Buffalo home around noon Christmas Eve to get milk and other supplies. The 26-year-old immigrant from Congo was found dead outside at 11:30 p.m. that night.
Morris Singer, 65, of Buffalo, was found dead in a snowbank in Buffalo on Dec. 24, 2022 during the December 2022 blizzard, according to his niece, Tamieka Johnson.
Morris Singer, 65, was found in a snowbank in Buffalo on Christmas Eve, according to his niece. His family thinks the Buffalo man may have been caught in the blizzard on Dec. 23 while walking home from a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
Stasia Syta poses with Milo, her daughter, Edie's, dog.
Stasia Syta, 73, left her Buffalo home at about 2 p.m. Christmas Eve to get fish at the Broadway Market for the traditional Polish holiday supper. Hours later, she told her daughter on the phone, "I need a miracle from God." Two friends found her dead in her snow-covered car on Route 33 on Christmas Day.
Anndel Taylor, in an image provided by her family. Taylor, 22, died in the blizzard that hit Buffalo.
Anndel Taylor left her job at an East Aurora nursing home at 2 p.m. Dec. 23, but her car got stuck just about six minutes from her Buffalo home, with a blizzard raging around her. She texted with her sisters in Charlotte, N.C., until midnight as she waited to be rescued. On Christmas Eve, her family was told that Taylor, 22, had been found dead in her car.
Henry Tellado, 55, was found in a house with no heat on Winslow Avenue in Buffalo.
Nancy Vedella, 73, was found in a house with no heat on William Street in Buffalo on Dec. 28.
Doris Williams, 93, was found on Christmas in her apartment with no heat at the Lyndon B. Johnson Apartments on Humboldt Parkway in Buffalo, where she had lived 30 years. Williams was a homemaker who raised five kids – three daughters and two sons.
Wendell Williams, 74, was found outside on Lemon Street on Dec. 26.
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Some authorities have not yet released names of the storm victims, and in some cases are still working to identify those who died.
If you know of a person who died due to the Buffalo blizzard, please email The Buffalo News at citydesk@buffnews.com
