BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The October Surprise Storm struck the Buffalo metro area 20 years ago, October 12, 2006, dumping two feet of heavy, wet snow on trees still full of leaves, knocking out power to more than 400,000 customers and setting the stage for a remarkable decades-long community recovery.
The storm started as afternoon rain turned to ice pellets before a lake effect snow storm buried Buffalo, Kenmore, the Tonawandas, Amherst, and Cheektowaga.
Big trees cracked and fell, and power lines popped and snapped across the region.
"It was the perfect storm from the standpoint that the leaves were still on the trees and you had the wet heavy snow that just made that situation that much more catastrophic," said National Grid Regional Director Ken Kujawa.
More than half of the 400,000 customers who lost power were National Grid customers.
"For the first 18, 19, 20 hours things just kept falling down," former National Grid spokesman Steve Brady said.
Crews from across the country responded to the emergency.
"At one point there were about 4,000 crews that came…our own crews from the rest of New York and Massachusetts came in... and I believe 19 different states," Brady said.
It took 11 days to fully restore all the power. Brady recalled how residents stepped up for repair crews despite their own hardship.
"People serving our crews coffee, donuts, things like that. People who had no power... finding ways to make coffee for the crews," Brady said.
The storm also changed how National Grid prepares for major weather events.
"We have our own private weather service, and we get these weather reports three times a day. In addition to that, we're monitoring National Weather Service. New York Meza-Net and so nothing really catches us off guard," Kujawa said.
The storm's devastation also sparked a major community volunteer effort. I met with Paul Maurer in North Buffalo. He founded Re-Tree Western New York to help replace thousands of lost trees.
"It deteriorated so fast, Eileen. I was just, you know, befuddled by it," Maurer said.
WATCH: 'Things just kept falling down': Remember 2006 October Surprise Storm
He has worked to restore the Queen City's tree canopy ever since.
"31,245, I believe, is the latest figure," Maurer said. "There were 57,000 trees lost in the storm of '06. We had gotten to all the 18 communities that were hit by the storm, and they gave us a sheet of what they saw out there, so we compiled it on a spreadsheet and said, 'Okay, 57,000. Let's try to get, you know, 30, 35,000, 30,000 done, and then we'll consider ourselves a success’”.
More than 31,000 trees later, volunteers are still working to replant trees across the Queen City.
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