Winter Storm Elliott
🌨Winter Storm Elliott🌨 1/12/23
By: Kinley Butler and Emma Curtis
Do you have family that was in the terrible storm that raged throughout the country? Winter Storm Elliott was a terrible blizzard that blew from the Great Lakes all the way to the Rio Grande, killing over three dozen people, and injuring more. 17,000 flights were canceled as well, and driving was even banned in Buffalo, the center of this blizzard. People are saying that this was the ¨blizzard of the century.”
Elliot lasted Christmas weekend, although it seemed longer to the victims of the storm. There were more than 700,000 homes that had no power. As the wind got more extreme and more extreme as it knocked down trees and power lines. Elliott brought over 43 inches of snow in some places, as gusts reached over 130 miles per hour. Thousands of people were trapped in their homes, only a couple days before Christmas. Most traveling was canceled, preventing people from seeing their families for the holiday season.
Winter Storm Elliott left thousands of people trapped in their homes, and some had to take refuge elsewhere. Jay Withey ended up having to break into a school to save 20 people and 2 dogs. The act was forgiven of course, and seen as ¨heroic and an example of the sense of community among people in the area.¨ Another woman took an elderly man, whose hands were frozen to his grocery bags, in, and got him medical help. The man survived, thanks to the kindness of this woman.
There are many, many stories of people who were stranded and saved by others, so you could say it was a time of kindness. For example, a South Korean group found shelter with couple Alexander and Andrea Campagna, regular New York residents. According to CNN travel, ¨"We had a couple of natural-born cooks in the group who were happy to prepare some exquisite Korean entrees," Alexander said.¨ The group said that the couple were more than welcome to visit them anytime.
There was actually another winter storm that hit Indiana in 1978. The storm in 1978 lasted until 6:00 to 7:00 and it was on January 28 but Elliot lasted a couple days. Hudson stated, “I had family in Buffalo” Brooklyn Wilson was in Louisiana during the time of the blizzard and said that, ¨there were tons of cars that fell over.¨There were many others who had family, or were in the storm, and told us their stories.
Thankfully, the places that were hit hardest by the blizzard have recovered, although they still have some repairing to do. Flights have not been resumed yet, but hopefully they will soon!