Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, and Governor Kathy Hochul hold a storm press briefing (December 26, 2022)

At least 27 people have died in Erie County following a winter storm that paralyzed a good portion of Western New York over the Christmas Holiday weekend.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz confirmed via Twitter of the 27 people who have died that 3 of the deaths were from an EMS Delay, 14 were from exposure, 3 were from shoveling or snow blowing cardiac events; 4 were from no heat; and 3 were those found in a vehicle. He said unfortunately he expects the number of deaths to still increase.

Poloncarz said driving bans remain in effect for Buffalo and Lackawanna with the rest of Erie County under a travel advisory.

The New York State Thruway remains closed from the Pennsylvania line to Exit 46 in Henrietta. The Thruway Authority was expecting to provide an update this morning on that situation.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said the four-day storm total at the Buffalo Airport was 50 inches of snow. The storm, which had blizzard conditions, left hundreds of motorists stranded and 100,000 without power over the weekend.

President Joe Biden has approved a request by Governor Kathy Hochul for a federal declaration of emergency for Erie and Genesee Counties. The Emergency Declaration will provide immediate federal assistance to impacted counties to support ongoing response and recovery operations.

Hochul also deployed an additional 220 National Guard soldiers to the Western New York region, bringing the total of deployments to approximately 430.

The program, highlighted in Governor Cuomo’s State of the State Address in January and launched in February, aims to provide approximately 100,000 New Yorkers with the tools and resources to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond accordingly, and recover as quickly as possible to pre-disaster conditions.

Training sessions will be led by the New York National Guard, working with experts from the New York Division of Homeland Security, Emergency Services’ Office of Emergency Management and Office of Fire Prevention and Control. All training sessions will be coordinated with local county emergency management personnel.

The event will take place at 9:30 a.m. inside SUNY Fredonia’s Williams Center.

Space is limited, so participants are required to register in advance. Pre-registration for the training session is available at: www.prepare.ny.gov.