After a “very rough night” in the Town of Tonawanda, Town Supervisor Joseph H. Emminger said residents will need to prepare for a Christmas unlike anything they’ve ever experienced.
Stranded motorists, fire trucks and snowplows stuck in snowbanks, and emergency vehicles unable to get into residential neighborhoods turned Saturday into a nightmare.
“It’s as bad as it can get,” Emminger told The Buffalo News. “This storm is going to ruin Christmas for a lot of people. My wife and I decided this morning, we’re going to celebrate Christmas on New Year’s this year. And I think a lot of other people are going to have to do the same thing.”
Emminger said highway workers are doing “everything they can” to make the main streets passable, but he said he is not optimistic that the town will be able to lift its driving ban on Christmas Day.
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“The way things are going, I would be surprised if it can be lifted before Monday,” Emminger said. “It looks like we’re in for another wild day.”
He urged town residents to stay home, rather than trying to drive to Christmas Eve gatherings with family, Christmas Eve church services or gatherings to watch the Buffalo Bills game on television.
“The one good piece of news I have is that most of us in the town are in their homes and they have heat and electricity,” Emminger said. “Last night, we had almost 2,600 people in the town without power. This morning, that number is down to 634 people.
“I would urge people to, please, stay home, watch the Bills game … Don’t go out today. The only reason most people have to go out is to make sure their heating and dryer vents are clear of snow.”
As of 8:30 a.m., the supervisor said most of the town’s side streets were impassable because of accumulated snow and blowing snow. He said the town is not yet allowing private snow contractors to plow driveways.
“We had a number of situations overnight where our snowplows got stuck. When that happens, another plow has to go to the scene and try to help the other one get out. That’s a serious situation,” Emminger said.
Even the town highway superintendent, Ted Rymarczyk, had trouble getting into work Saturday morning.
“A town snowplow had to go to Ted’s home and escort him into work,” Emminger said.
Emminger added one more disturbing point:
“The good news is, most of us in the town are safely hunkered down in our homes. The bad news is, if you have a medical emergency in your home, we cannot guarantee that we can get to you. Our people will try, but they aren’t able to get to every location.”
