Buffalo October 2006 Storm Gallery - Page 13

Most of the leaves were still on the trees when this lake effect storm hit... some were even still green! The wet snow clung to the leaves as well as the branches. The leaves and branches were warmer than the snow, so it melted, the water held in place by the new snow falling atop what was already there. The pines shrugged the storm off, but the broadleaf trees couldn't abide that enormous weight.

The local news radio stations and tv stations kept up a steady supply of updates, but since two-thirds of the city was without electricity only the lucky third and people who'd gotten themselves battery-operated radios could hear them. Cell phones towers went on and off, as the power came and went. I was totally shocked that so many natives of this city DID NOT OWN a battery operated radio, decent flashlight, or did not have decent batteries for them. AND the ones who THOUGHT they were prepared only had a standard, ordinary 2-cell incandecent flashlight or a few dangerous candles. Those standard flashlights will only give you about 2 hours of useful light, & those hazardous candles only made it through half the evening or set something on fire.

Many people's phone lines still worked, but because the only phones they had were cordless phones... which require AC power to their base to function, & no ordinary phones, they couldn't use their phone. An ordinary phone gets it's power from the phone line, not an AC outlet.