comment: >
  
  That's cold asf
context: 31 deaths is crazy… stay safe out there! >
  
  I'm in Ohio and had to be the bad guy to my in-laws by saying we weren't coming to Christmas Eve, then they called the next day and said it took them an hour to drive 10 minutes home from the dinner we skipped and how dangerous it was.  
  Some people gotta touch an oven to see if it's hot when you tell them ¯⁠\⁠⁠ಠ⁠⁠ಠ⁠_⁠/⁠¯ >
  
  Also in Ohio. Called out of work the day of the storm even though it was only a 15 min drive away. Roads were still not cleared fully 2 days later. >
  
  I called out on Friday, I do not like my job enough to risk my life for it, especially during the holiday rush. >
  
  Don't get me wrong. My job is great and it pays well. But money is money and it'll cost a lot more for my loved ones to arrange my funeral than it would for me to miss a day of work. >
  
  I’m in BC where we got hit pretty bad last week, and my ethos was, “I get paid less in a day than my car insurance deductible costs” >
  
  Haha I’m gonna remember this >
  
  Emergency services were turned off for 2 days during the storm. The city was completely inaccessible so if you get into an accident you're on your own. My street (a main street in the heart of the west side) had a snow drift as high a stoplight blocking all access. Down the way was an abandoned semitruck blocking the entire road as well as other abandoned cars sprinkled across the landscape completely buried in snow. Trees fallen everywhere too. The whole city was like this.
  I knew it was going to be bad but this one was BAD >
  
  You’ve been hit hard twice and it’s only December. Do you think about moving?  Just curious. I live in Maine but come from Rochester NY and I don’t think I could deal with that level of disaster anymore. >
  
  Grew up in Rochester as well, moved to Southern Louisiana to get away from the snow. In the 90's I got cuaght several times on the stretch of 90 between Buffalo and Erie and wasn't sure I'd make it home. The snow through there is crazy, I would just follow a semi at a distance and if he went off the road I knew to stop. >
  
  driving around with Semi-traction can be a bit dangerous sometimes. >
  
  If they've got a full load they do better than cars and have more experienced drivers so I follow them too. But with an empty trailer they're screwed in high winds. I was thinking of passing one in Chicago snowstorm but the back drifted just a bit so I slowed down and kept back. Sure enough a few minutes later a gust caught him and the trailer swung across a couple lanes and almost jackknifed. Driver did a great job of getting it straightened back out so kudos to him! That was a long ass stressful drive back home though. I was exhausted. >
  
  This is why people would rush to the store to buy up things like eggs, bread, milk, butter, TP, paper towels, etc... Sure people always panic when it's just a little snow but overall, these types of storms are why. >
  
  Also why it's good to have some canned/dried goods.  I keep about 4-5 days worth of soups, canned goods, rice, ramen, clean it out every once in a while if it doesn't get used.  It's not costly either, that stuff is fairly cheap.  
  But man, this is pretty crazy.  I think the most I've ever been trapped (no driving ban, just felt safe to leave) was 3 days in 2010 for "Snowmaggedon", these poor folks are almost going on a week. >
  
  You keep 4-5 days worth?... I feel like I may be a hoarder if 4-5 days is considered a good amount. >
  
  4-5 days worth of food is nothing. I live in Louisiana and that’s the bare minimum in my opinion. >
  
  I'm pretty sure we have a month's worth of food all combined. Lots of dried beans and rice too. For me, it's to be prepared, and because of the poverty I've experienced, where all my food was from the food bank. >
  
  That's very smart. Dried beans and rice are heaven when you have ZERO access. People don't understand that. it's not about what you want to eat in a disaster, its about eating high caloric/protein meals and staying adequately 'full', or, at the very least, having enough food to have some energy output. >
  
  Another thing is maintaining a more positive mental state. When you don't meet the daily nutritive threshold it can mess with your head. Bad thought loops are the last thing you need in a natural disaster. >
  
  This is 100 why I keep 'mental health food' in my pantry. A chocolate bar. Liquid IVs. Canned fruit. Stuff I know will boost me when I'm low. It helped so much during Ida. >
  
  Every business that stayed open and didn't give their employees the option to stay home should be prosecuted. These people would t have been out in this if it wasn't for fear of losing their jobs. It's disgusting. >
  
  Too bad our elected officials don't represent their constituents' interests. Or rather they consider the businesses their constuents, rather than the voters. >
  
  
  Or rather they consider the businesses their constituents, rather than the voters.
  
  Conservatives make no secret at all about this, and their voters are very straightforward about valuing business owners over regular people. >
  
  It's not just conservatives, sadly. Both parties represent corporations over human beings. >
  
  True, but conservatives have turned the "small business owner" into an identity that they leverage against anybody who might need any sort of govt protections; the narrative is always that JimBob's Tire Emporium will go under if he has to pay over $8/hour or offer insurance. They all see themselves as JimBob. It's a really good trick.
  Dems are for sure corrupt and support a lot of corporate agenda items but they campaign on individual wage and debt issues and do actually pass legislation. They're less psychopathic. >
  
  And yet conservative's talk about small business that way, but vote every damn time to make sure that larger companies get advantages - and those small businesses fail. >
  
  So do Dems. Follow the money, both parties are propped up by the foulest industries and that isn't even considering dark money and super PACS. >
  
  I do, but I also look at the voting records. We need to get more people to run under "Working Families"that arent just "better than the worse" of the democrats. >
  
  One wonders if there is a list of missing people and if so, how long the list is >
  
  I saw a fucked up video of people coming across someone frozen on the ground. >
  
  That's cold asf >
  
  Yeah both what they were saying and acting and the fact the person froze to death. >
  
  I once slept outside in 5 to 10 degree weather, I hope all the homeless got somewhere warm. >
  
  jesus, that's a lot of fucking snow 
  looking at that i'm having a mild ptsd from the four straight days of shoveling/blowing last week here in northern WI >
  
  Hi fellow Northwoods resident!
  The blow snow is the worst part. Stupid snow drifts. 
  Although. My subdivision went from an open field to a street full of houses this summer. So the drifting is down considerably. >
  
  Wyoming enters the chat Someone talking about snowdrifts? The jackalopes have it tough this year. >
  
  Jesus I saw that Cheyenne dropped 32 degrees in temp in 10 minutes.  That is seriously insane weather. >
  
  It was awesome! 
  Day after tomorrow quotes for a week! 
  We never lost power so it was a win. What's funny is that it was around 25 this morning. Still wearing short sleeve shirts after the last frost. It was crazy! Hope y'all are safe. >
  
  Lowes doesn't care. Still forcing employees to come in >
  
  I recently learned from a former Lowe’s employee that they have some sort of agreement with the government to be considered essential so that people and emergency services can get generators and equipment from them >
  
  "Poloncarz, a Democrat, called the blizzard "the worst storm probably in our lifetime," even for an area known for heavy snow. More bodies are expected to be found as the snow is cleared or melts." 
  Wtf does their political affiliation have to do with anything? 
  "Jeff here, who loves cheese, was devastated when his wife was unable to be rescued from her car". >
  
  I would argue that whether or not someone likes cheese is much more important information than their political affiliation in situations like these.
  Can't trust a person who doesn't like cheese. >
  
  Remenber: whatever out there isn't worth your life >
  
  Well said, just chill at your home safely till the storm reduces >
  
  Many houses do not have power and people are trying to get to the safety of a community shelter. >
  
  This is true as well >
  
  I’m in buffalo we had no power for 74 hours and needed gas to run a generator to stay warm, to survive you have to make choices. There wasn’t even 911 services for the entire city for days. >
  
  It's insane to me they announced no emergency services. It was like 48 hours. All the bodegas near me on the west side got robbed, pretty crazy. >
  
  It is insane, and public services have to warn people and risk the looting. The government is a construct that's a failure when its needed lately. It's not going to get any better either... >
  
  This is not the time to play on the roads, so stay off them >
  
  Kind of hard to do that if you live in your car. >
  
  my hometown 💔 my sister is still snowed in and had to walk to wegmans to try and get supplies. i really wish i could help >
  
  For the people looking in from outside the area, the people of WNY take pride in being able to survive storms with minimal disruption. And remember that we just got thru a monumental storm just before thanksgiving. But unless you are at least 55 yrs old you can’t really remember conditions like those of last week. It was on a whole different level and all the local weatherman warnings about it’s impending severity couldn’t convince a large number of the population. The fact that they hype up a normal lake effect snow storm every 10 days may have played a small part in people disregarding the warnings but that’s a whole other conversation. >
  
  The size of the Low and the massive pressure gradient between it and the cold high behind it was absolutely nuts. >
  
  Doesn't help homeless people who have no choice. >
  
  Meanwhile, Starbucks etc. demanding to know why employees aren't clocked in >
  
  I happened to have my plans messed up from the weather, so I was chillin solo on Xmas. I couldn’t believe my local Starbucks was open. Give em a day, Jeaz! No one is missing Starbucks that day. >
  
  Right?
  I mean, it's one thing to be open on a holiday in a busy travel area, especially if you have staff who celebrate other holidays -- but floods, shootings, blizzards, holidays (where it's not necessary or at not busy stores). Pretty sure there is something in the "How to Be Corporate" manual that demands stores be open in the most ridiculous situations without exception; in fact, that more ridiculous the more critical it is for the store to be fully staffed :/ >
  
  I'm looking forward to the several lawsuits from employees over their bosses making them show up to work. >
  
  The people at those jobs don't have the means to sue. And if they do the company will stretch it out requiring court appearances but the employee doesn't have that many sick and vacation days so they either show up and lose their job or give up. People can't go that long without work to fight back against the evil bastards. The only chance is a large class action or if the business gets enough bad publicity that they settle. >
  
  "but you're still coming in for your shift, right?" - management >
  
  These managers and store owners should be prosecuted and go to jail. >
  
  So did folks stock up on supplies before this thing hit? If you can't drive you can't get to the grocery store or pharmacy. >
  
  This is why they say you should have 2 weeks worth of non-perishable food at home at all times.  Even if it's just soup or pasta.  Because there will come a time when you're stuck for several days and everything is shut down.  I know it sucks because so many are living paycheck to paycheck, but it's important to have that little stash of food (and medicine). >
  
  Exactly. Everyone should have an emergency kit. >
  
  You know how bad it is after you learn Buffalo is a place that is no stranger to snow, cold snaps and blizzards. >
  
  My mum couldn’t understand why there have been so many deaths and as someone who’s only been following the situation from a distance I couldn’t really give her a confident answer. Are people dying from being caught in the blizzard outside? Are they trapped inside with no heating or supplies and succumbing to the cold? Is it primarily elderly people? Was this storm foreseen and were people warned to be prepared? >
  
  The snow was so bad, people got stuck on the road. For over 24 hours there were NO emergency services available because ALL their vehicles were stuck. People froze to death or died from carbon monoxide b/c they ran their motors for heat.
  We has sustained 75mph winds on Friday that immediately knock power out, and heat for those without gas. Water pipes broke. Fires. People became disoriented walking & just fell over & died. The snow was heavy, so shoveling caused heart attacks.
  No one could prepare us for this. I have lived in the Buffalo area for 54 years. I have seen storms, but not like this. >
  
  We have gas heat but it’s forced air so no power= no heat. (Luckily we only had power flicker a few times- houses down the street lost power). 
  I said elsewhere- I’ve never been in a situation where we were told “no emergency services- you’re on your own”. Maybe it happened in ‘77 but I was 5 then and I honestly don’t remember the storm. >
  
  I was 9 in '77 so I don't remember a lot either. I was also in Chautauqua county then & like this storm, it wasn't as bad down there. 
  I am in Southtowns now. I agree 100% that this is a storm like no other in my lifetime. First the 5+ feet of snow a couple weeks ago, now this.
  We were lucky too. I am SO GLAD you survived!🙏 Too many sad stories that didn't need to happen, and on Christmas no less. Peace & Go Bills! >
  
  This is exactly why I hate snow. I know it's fun to ski and make snowmen and have snow ball fights. It's when you have to clear the snow due to it hindering something or drive in it, deaths result. >
  
  No hair, our skin hurts in low temps, Our noses dont work under low humidity.  For all intents and purposes, humans aren't meant to live in the cold. >
  
  Some of those dead must be chili's managers who blew a blood vessel screaming at min wage workers that this storm " wasn't that bad" and " we are going to be crazy busy" >
  
  Employers:”Walk your ass to work. I’ll see you when the snow dies down because I took vacation.” >
  
  "Well yes, but can you still come in? We're short-staffed. Be a team player! It's only a bit of snow!" >
  
  Biggest issue people don’t understand; when you “have to” go to a store or run an errand and you get into an accident, you call 911.
  Those first responders shouldn’t be dealing with you right now, they should be trying to rescue any trapped victims that might still be alive.
  Stop being selfish, stay off the roads and if you actually need something, ask neighbors for help, pool your resources and become a better community while others are given a chance to survive. >
  
  Emergency services were turned off for 2 days during the storm. The city was completely inaccessible so if you get into an accident you're on your own. My street (a main street in the heart of the west side) had a snow drift as high a stoplight blocking all access. Down the way was an abandoned semitruck blocking the entire road as well as other abandoned cars sprinkled across the landscape. The whole city was like this. >
  
  Still there will be a lot of people who think the ban doesn't apply to them because they have to go see grandma. >
  
  Or they're homeless and don't have anywhere else to go >
  
  I still don't know anyone personally who has been ticketed for driving during the ban. I think they should automatically ticket every car that was abandoned on a bus route and let the owner explain why they were driving during the ban to determine if they have to pay the fine. People will not obey laws if there's no enforcement.
  Payloaders came down my street last night (Tuesday), so I was able to drive to ECMC to pick up my wife, but on my way there, a friend of mine texted me "we're at the bar if you want to swing by". Considering that the bartender had to drive in from Tonawanda, that bar should have been closed. >
  
  Wonder how many people did it anyways in the name of “muh freedom” then ran to an already overworked emergency room when their stupidity backfired >
  
  Emergency Room? Nobody could get to the hospital and there were no ambulances >
  
  Hopefully people stay off the roads, bc this is no time to play >
  
  Newspapers had a combination of revenue. Income from subscribers and newsboxes proved their circulation which helped them sell ads. When people stopped paying for the paper they were also no longer eyeballs for the ads. And the fact that they paid to read in the first place contributes to the investment each party has in the advertiser, publication, readership relationship. 
  Basic news reporting is worth every penny you pay, and even subscribing you should still look at every article critically for spin. Anyone who gives it to you free has an angle of their own.
  Edited to add: my parents subscribed to papers. I just read the headlines. >
  
  I worked at a small town paper with circulation about 30k (weekend) and we had about $12k daily revenue from classifieds ads that vaporized when craigslist came. Went from 10-14 pages of classifieds to half a page. Classifieds subsidized a lot of the paper. >
  
  Yeah, competition for eyeballs went way way up in the digital age where investment costs are so so low compared to physical media overhead >
  
  It's honestly really sad, that paper employed probably 100-150 ppl when i was there and now it does not exist on a local level.. there are some freelance reporters and photogs who submit stories but everything else is handled on a national level - there's a customer service call center, photo color correction is a central department for hundreds of papers, etc. They contract the press work to another larger paper and the delivery is handled by 1099 contractors. Local news barely exists anymore. >
  
  Tired of the "muh freedumb" constant complainers... I really feel bad for the common sense people of the area.  Same people, "why do weather forecasters always speak in sensationalism and hyperbole?" >
  
  Driving ban? Where are the “my Freedumbs” people when you need them? This is unconstitutional! This is an overreach of government! Unbelievable! 
  /s >
  
  Any good american would have taken out their AR15 and shot the blizzard..
  /s >
  
  I got DOWNVOTED for SARCASM!?!   
  Fuck you Reddit! lol :-) >
  
  No protests about government overreach? >
  
  Isn't it about to be warm again.  Wondr8ng how much of this snow will melt with a few days above freezing and rain >
  
  They’re already trying to warn people who live in known flooding areas. >
  
  There are homes still without power, and people have died waiting for emergency personnel, but if you try to travel to a warm home or a hospital yourself, they'll sic the cops on you. >
  
  how did they die? stuck in their cars? >
  
  Reddit: snow related deaths are ONLY someone else’s fault. >
  
  Wow! Maybe national guard takes orders from homes and delivers them so that people don’t have to leave house out of desperation!! Wow! >
  
  I don’t know how many would know this, but was the football team able to go back yesterday?
  They just got done playing a bowl game in Alabama. I was wondering if they would be able to go back safely >
  
  As someone used to driving in snow, it's easy to criticize people that can't. 
  Which is not at all fair. Having to learn a new skill in an emergency situation is pretty rough.
  Good luck, hang in there! >
  
  No one should be driving in 4 feet of snow. It is tragic that we lost so many lives. I’m watching this from Syracuse and I’m devastated. >
  
  No driving... But is my snowmobile good to go? How about my Ranger on tracks? I feel like people that have proper modes of transportation for the region should get a pass. >
  
  plows were getting stuck >
  
  I guess we need to blame the governor and senators for this weather event. Or do we only do that in Texas >
  
  They’re not blamed for the weather event but how they react to it. >
  
  So how are officials in NY reacting to this?  People still without power, cars and people stranded everywhere. Deathtoll still rising. I guess the governor only gets held accountable when he/she has an R next to their name. >
  
  Yeah... New York didn't disconnect their power grid from the rest of the nation in order to avoid oversight only to have it collapse under stress that would otherwise be manageable. >
  
  So what is the excuse in NY then? >
  
  Actually extreme weather rather than temperatures barely below zero. >
  
  Texas power grid handles sustained summers with weeks over 100* 
  Californias can barely survive 90* weeks
  Maybe grids are built for their usual climates >
  
  At least one was due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Due to the winds blowing drifts incredibly high (some outside my place were over 7ft), the furnace vents would get covered by snow, therefore no exhaust could escape, CO builds up and... yeah. It's sad and unfortunate.
  Freezing to death, accidents where no emergency services could get through, etc etc. I could literally not leave my building for 4 days due to the storm, there's no way emergency services could get in. >
  
  
  CO2 builds up
  
  CO is carbon monoxide. CO2 is carbon dioxide that nobody cares about. >
  
  Whoops, brain fart. Thanks! >
  
  How they supposed to buss now? >
  
  Do you know what “starved” means?  
  Also sorry for loss.  I heard the preper community was mourning the loss of the member they called “911”. >
  
  31 deaths is crazy… stay safe out there! >
  
  I'm in Ohio and had to be the bad guy to my in-laws by saying we weren't coming to Christmas Eve, then they called the next day and said it took them an hour to drive 10 minutes home from the dinner we skipped and how dangerous it was.  
  Some people gotta touch an oven to see if it's hot when you tell them ¯⁠\⁠⁠ಠ⁠⁠ಠ⁠_⁠/⁠¯ >
  
  Also in Ohio. Called out of work the day of the storm even though it was only a 15 min drive away. Roads were still not cleared fully 2 days later. >
  
  I called out on Friday, I do not like my job enough to risk my life for it, especially during the holiday rush. >
  
  Don't get me wrong. My job is great and it pays well. But money is money and it'll cost a lot more for my loved ones to arrange my funeral than it would for me to miss a day of work. >
  
  I’m in BC where we got hit pretty bad last week, and my ethos was, “I get paid less in a day than my car insurance deductible costs” >
  
  Haha I’m gonna remember this >
  
  Emergency services were turned off for 2 days during the storm. The city was completely inaccessible so if you get into an accident you're on your own. My street (a main street in the heart of the west side) had a snow drift as high a stoplight blocking all access. Down the way was an abandoned semitruck blocking the entire road as well as other abandoned cars sprinkled across the landscape completely buried in snow. Trees fallen everywhere too. The whole city was like this.
  I knew it was going to be bad but this one was BAD >
  
  You’ve been hit hard twice and it’s only December. Do you think about moving?  Just curious. I live in Maine but come from Rochester NY and I don’t think I could deal with that level of disaster anymore. >
  
  Grew up in Rochester as well, moved to Southern Louisiana to get away from the snow. In the 90's I got cuaght several times on the stretch of 90 between Buffalo and Erie and wasn't sure I'd make it home. The snow through there is crazy, I would just follow a semi at a distance and if he went off the road I knew to stop. >
  
  driving around with Semi-traction can be a bit dangerous sometimes. >
  
  If they've got a full load they do better than cars and have more experienced drivers so I follow them too. But with an empty trailer they're screwed in high winds. I was thinking of passing one in Chicago snowstorm but the back drifted just a bit so I slowed down and kept back. Sure enough a few minutes later a gust caught him and the trailer swung across a couple lanes and almost jackknifed. Driver did a great job of getting it straightened back out so kudos to him! That was a long ass stressful drive back home though. I was exhausted. >
  
  This is why people would rush to the store to buy up things like eggs, bread, milk, butter, TP, paper towels, etc... Sure people always panic when it's just a little snow but overall, these types of storms are why. >
  
  Also why it's good to have some canned/dried goods.  I keep about 4-5 days worth of soups, canned goods, rice, ramen, clean it out every once in a while if it doesn't get used.  It's not costly either, that stuff is fairly cheap.  
  But man, this is pretty crazy.  I think the most I've ever been trapped (no driving ban, just felt safe to leave) was 3 days in 2010 for "Snowmaggedon", these poor folks are almost going on a week. >
  
  You keep 4-5 days worth?... I feel like I may be a hoarder if 4-5 days is considered a good amount. >
  
  4-5 days worth of food is nothing. I live in Louisiana and that’s the bare minimum in my opinion. >
  
  I'm pretty sure we have a month's worth of food all combined. Lots of dried beans and rice too. For me, it's to be prepared, and because of the poverty I've experienced, where all my food was from the food bank. >
  
  That's very smart. Dried beans and rice are heaven when you have ZERO access. People don't understand that. it's not about what you want to eat in a disaster, its about eating high caloric/protein meals and staying adequately 'full', or, at the very least, having enough food to have some energy output. >
  
  Another thing is maintaining a more positive mental state. When you don't meet the daily nutritive threshold it can mess with your head. Bad thought loops are the last thing you need in a natural disaster. >
  
  This is 100 why I keep 'mental health food' in my pantry. A chocolate bar. Liquid IVs. Canned fruit. Stuff I know will boost me when I'm low. It helped so much during Ida. >
  
  Every business that stayed open and didn't give their employees the option to stay home should be prosecuted. These people would t have been out in this if it wasn't for fear of losing their jobs. It's disgusting. >
  
  Too bad our elected officials don't represent their constituents' interests. Or rather they consider the businesses their constuents, rather than the voters. >
  
  
  Or rather they consider the businesses their constituents, rather than the voters.
  
  Conservatives make no secret at all about this, and their voters are very straightforward about valuing business owners over regular people. >
  
  It's not just conservatives, sadly. Both parties represent corporations over human beings. >
  
  True, but conservatives have turned the "small business owner" into an identity that they leverage against anybody who might need any sort of govt protections; the narrative is always that JimBob's Tire Emporium will go under if he has to pay over $8/hour or offer insurance. They all see themselves as JimBob. It's a really good trick.
  Dems are for sure corrupt and support a lot of corporate agenda items but they campaign on individual wage and debt issues and do actually pass legislation. They're less psychopathic. >
  
  And yet conservative's talk about small business that way, but vote every damn time to make sure that larger companies get advantages - and those small businesses fail. >
  
  So do Dems. Follow the money, both parties are propped up by the foulest industries and that isn't even considering dark money and super PACS. >
  
  I do, but I also look at the voting records. We need to get more people to run under "Working Families"that arent just "better than the worse" of the democrats. >
  
  One wonders if there is a list of missing people and if so, how long the list is >
  
  I saw a fucked up video of people coming across someone frozen on the ground.