Records withheld on 2022 Buffalo blizzard
NY hasn’t fully disclosed key details about emergency response
Key aspects of New York’s emergency response to Buffalo’s deadly 2022 blizzard remain shrouded in secrecy as upstate communities brace for another winter storm season.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration has withheld public records related to the whereabouts of hundreds of state emergency response vehicles and workers before, during and after the historic blizzard that hit last Dec. 23, killing 47 people.
The lack of transparency included state officials refusing to release copies of emails and other communications related to the blizzard.
Public understanding of the state deployment of emergency response aid is crucial for civilians and local officials alike as communities, including Monroe County, seek to learn lessons from the catastrophic blizzard response in Buffalo.
On Jan. 24, the USA TODAY Network requested GPS data for state vehicles deployed for the blizzard response, as well as the communications records.
Since then, the state Department of Transportation has repeatedly asserted it needed more time to consider releasing those public records. It cited “a high number” of Freedom of Information Law, or FOIL, requests it recently received as the reason for the delay on eight separate occasions over the past 11 months.
USA TODAY Network has asked the state agency to provide further details about its FOIL workload. That context is important to determine if the repeated extensions are unreasonable and effectively serve as a refusal to release records, which would trigger an appeal.
By contrast, Erie County officials earlier this year released emergency dispatch and GPS data related to the blizzard response across local communities in Western New York.
What we know (and don’t know)
Nearly a year after the blizzard hit Buffalo, several academic and government investigations have shed light on important details of the storm response.
A team of USA TODAY Network reporters explored how the decisions made by officials before, during and after the blizzard left scores of people to fend for themselves. That investigation revealed communications breakdowns, a lack of intergovernmental cooperation and emergency management breakdowns cost lives.
But the still undisclosed state records leave some unanswered questions about why a fleet of heavy-duty plows, excavators and other emergency vehicles was sidelined during the critical rescue period when most blizzard deaths occurred.
The ongoing pursuit of those state records comes as local officials warned climate change increased the odds that once-in-a-generation storms – like the 2022 Buffalo blizzard – may no longer be once-in-a-generation.