In Buffalo
In recent days, a storm has hit the city of Buffalo, the seat of Erie County in the state of New York, causing more than five feet of snow to fall in some locations.
Following this extraordinary atmospheric event, according to local television broadcaster WGRZ, the county administration made the decision to deploy 100 police officers to enforce the driving ban issued in recent days, since this often is not respected, creating dangers, but above all, interfering with rescue operations.
According to local leaders, many citizens continued to resort to the use of private vehicles, not suitable for road traffic roads made impracticable by the amount of snow that has fallen in recent days, which has abundantly exceeded one meter in height. The presence of vehicles blocked on the roads has obviously slowed down the snow removal process. Furthermore, the obstacles created by the cars blocked on the road prevented the emergency vehicles from reaching those in need of assistance in a timely manner. According to USA Today, three fatalities were caused precisely by the delay in relief efforts.
“There are many roads that are completely blocked right now, and people are trying to drive on these roads or trying to enter these neighborhoods, and they can't,” said Mark Poloncarz, an Erie County executive. Which after he launched an appeal to the population “Please stay at home. If it's an emergency situation, call 911."
Some videos posted on the net show that the New York State Police it is equipped with a small mechanical shovel called Rook, modified ad hoc with a forklift, with which the cars stopped on the roadway are lifted and placed on the edge of the roadway, to allow the passage of the snowploughs.
Fortunately it seems that the worst is over, and that in the coming days the situation may improve in the city as well as throughout the county.