[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   WESTERN NEW YORK PUMMELED BY SNOW

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, over the past 2 days, the western New York 
community has been pummeled by unrelenting lake-effect snow. Areas of 
the city of Buffalo and surrounding suburbs were blanketed in over 5 
feet of snow, and it continues to fall.
  Stranded in cars and trapped in homes, people are unable to access 
potentially necessary emergency services. Over 150 miles of the New 
York State Thruway closed, and thus far, the storm has claimed the 
lives of eight people.
  Snowstorms are a routine part of western New York winters, but even 
with advance notice, storms of this capacity are nearly impossible to 
prepare for.
  I applaud the leadership of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, 
Mayor Byron Brown, and Governor Andrew Cuomo. Their emergency 
management teams have been hard at work and will not rest until the 
snow has been cleared and everybody affected is safe.
  However, it is not just those trained for emergencies that have 
turned out. Neighbors helping neighbors shovel and dig out are common 
sights around western New York. The city of Buffalo once again proved 
itself to be The City of Good Neighbors.

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