Last week, an epic amount of lake-effect snow blanketed Buffalo’s south towns in the arctic blast dubbed ‘Storm Knife.’
More than six feet of snow, to be exact.
Apple Rubber, located in Lancaster—which reported some of the highest amounts of snow—received a whopping 74 inches.
“The snow was so high that our employees couldn’t even see out of their office windows,” said John Tranquilli, materials manager. “Due to the severity of the storm, we closed down from Tuesday to Friday.”
Apple Rubber was not the only company to do so. With large snow drifts and virtually impossible visibility, a state of emergency was issued throughout Erie County for several days.
“Everyone was shocked at how much snow fell, and even more shocked at how narrow the snow band was,” said Tranquilli. “We had some employees with green lawns, while others had 84 inches of snow. ”
Many areas received a year’s worth of snow in just three days. Just take a look at some of the front covers of The Buffalo News, and you can understand just how hard some areas were hit.
The snow wreaked havoc in Erie County—the death toll reached 13 people, and more than 100 motorists remained trapped on the 1-90 for nearly 24 hours. Local officials had to close a 212-km portion of the interstate.
And the snow kept on coming.
With the help of the county’s emergency operations, Red Cross and the air and army National Guard, disaster relief was able to pick up on Thursday and Friday.
Apple Rubber employees also had some of their own cleanup work to tend to.
Digging out of the storm
It took hard work from everyone involved to get things back to normal at Apple Rubber–and every employee learned an important lesson. Unfortunately, three employees were stuck at the manufacturing plant for three days.
Two employees reporting for the second shift got stuck in the parking lot, while another employee got stuck up the road.
“It’s an important safety lesson for everyone,” noted Tranquilli. “It’s always smart to carry warm gloves, hats, and blankets in your car–especially in our area, when these strange storms can happen at any moment. Luckily our employees were all OK, but being prepared is critical.”
As the snowfall came to a halt on Friday, the cleanup process began.
“We used an outside contractor to clear out our parking lot and roof,” said Tranquilli. “There were about 20 guys shoveling out our lot, and it took three full days of very hard labor.”
As far as business goes, Apple was ahead on projects before the storm. Once UPS and FedEx were delivering again, consumers were able to receive their products.
“As most Buffalonians have, everyone here looked at the positives,” said Tranquilli. “A lot of sore muscles from shoveling, but we all made it out OK. Many of our employees not only shoveled their own driveways, but helped their fellow neighbors in need. That’s what counts.”
Do you have any share-worthy stories, photos or memories of the storm? We’d love to hear them in the comments below or on Twitter. Connect with us @AppleRubber.