A New Mexico family was among hundreds stranded by a historic blizzard that engulfed Buffalo, New York during the Christmas weekend, KOB 4 reported. Jenna Fiedler of Gallup was visiting family for the holidays but became stranded by the storm.
“They have not had a blizzard like this since 1977,” Fiedler told KOB 4 during a Zoom interview from her in-laws’ home just outside of the city.
The death toll reached 30 and continued to mount as dozens of people have been found dead in cars, homes and snow banks. Airports shut down, leaving passengers with little idea when they could return home.
“The amount of snow that is on people’s roofs it’s ridiculous – it’s actually making roofs cave in,” Fiedler said. “Fatalities come into play with people just getting stranded in the streets and their cars getting covered in snow.”
Fiedler and her husband were hoping to return home by Wednesday, but their flight was canceled.
“It’s basically out of our control right now,” Fiedler said. “Either we wait to fly home or we drive home, and I’m not trying to drive in this weather.”
Western New York is buried under more than four feet of snow. Fiedler said the weather forced everyone to take care of each other, especially when her hotel went on lockdown on Christmas Eve.
“The front desk person actually didn’t have any staff,” she said. “Some of the guests volunteered to take care of the front desk for him while he got to go and sleep for a few hours, and then the guests volunteered on Christmas Eve evening to cook continental breakfast for the whole hotel. So, everybody was able to finally have a good meal on Christmas Eve.”