(Buffalo) President Joe Biden is sending federal aid to western New York to help state and local authorities recover from the major winter storm that dumped up to 6 feet of snow in western and northern New York, the White House announced Monday.
The emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts in 11 counties affected by the lake effect snowstorm Friday and Saturday.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul thanked President Biden for granting his request for emergency assistance.
She added in a press release that she and her team are working hard to help citizens recover from this “unprecedented and record-breaking historic winter storm.”
The National Weather Service of the United States recorded broadsides of 196 centimeters on Saturday at Orchard Park, home of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL) and 183 centimeters at Natural Bridge, a hamlet near Watertown in the off the east end of Lake Ontario.
The storm forced the Bills to move Sunday’s game against the Browns from Cleveland to Detroit.
More snow fell overnight Sunday in some areas, but it stopped by daybreak Monday.
“We are finally dry,” assured the meteorologist of the weather service, Liz Jurkowski.
A driving ban had been lifted Monday morning in most areas affected by the storm, but schools remained closed in Buffalo and nearby towns.
The snowstorm was the worst in New York state since November 2014, when some communities south of Buffalo were hit with 7 feet of snow in three days.
Mme Jurkowski said snowfall totals for that storm were still being calculated on Monday.