BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — President Joe Biden is sending federal aid to western New York to help state and local authorities clean up from the massive storm that dumped more than 6 feet of snow in western and northern New York and is blamed for three deaths, the White House announced Monday.
The emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief in 11 counties hit by the the lake-effect snowstorm Friday and Saturday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul thanked Biden for granting her request for emergency aid, and added in a news release, “My team and I will continue working around the clock to keep everyone safe, help communities dig out, and secure every last dollar to help rebuild and recover from this unprecedented, record-shattering historic winter storm.”
National Weather Service observers reported 80 inches in the Buffalo suburbs of Hamburg and Orchard Park, home to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, and 74 inches in Natural Bridge, a hamlet near Watertown off the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The storm forced the Bills to move Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns to Detroit. The Bills won 31-23.