AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — The latest winter storm in Western New York toppled trees and power lines across the Northtowns and into Niagara County on Monday, leaving residents without power and forcing road closures.
At the busy intersection of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Williams Road in Wheatfield, at least four utility poles crashed to the ground Monday morning.
WATCH: Winter storm topples trees and power lines in Northtowns and Niagara County
Alex Miller, who works at David Chevrolet on the boulevard, described hearing transformers blow before seeing the damage.
"Around 8:40 this morning, we got a couple of phone calls, actually, of the transformers blowing, and the next thing you know, we saw the poles down, and then we're in the dark," Miller said.
The downed power lines initially blocked the dealership's driveway, but Miller praised the utility company's quick response.
"The wires were blocking the driveway, too. The utility company did a great job," Miller said. "We didn't think it was going to get back up and running this quickly, and they did a tremendous job getting out there."
The extreme wind gusts, some clocked over 70 mph, continued to whip around snow, creating very poor visibility conditions throughout the region.
In the Town of Tonawanda and the Village of Kenmore, more falling trees and power lines were reported. A tree crashed into a power pole on Delaware Road at Columbia in Kenmore, adding to the widespread damage.
Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger told 7 News that trees also came down throughout the town along the following streets:
- Deerhurst
- Colonial
- Cleveland Drive
- GardenWood
- Lindsay
- Carpenter
Erie County Commissioner of Public Works Bill Geary said crews have been working around the clock to address the storm damage.
"It's been a busy day for the crews," Geary said. "The crews in all five districts have been juggling chasing down the trees that have been falling, but also working with the utilities and the ones that are in the power lines, closing off roads."
In Amherst, a large tree crashed onto a house on Hopkins Road. Geary said, fortunately, no injuries have been reported from the incident.
Crews also responded to problems on Garrison Road in Amherst, where heavily populated areas presented additional challenges.
"Garrison and Hopkins, both very heavily populated areas, so the crews were navigating traffic, but also trying to get in and around there at the same time, pre-salting for all this winter weather," Geary said.
About a dozen roads were closed in Erie County due to downed trees and power lines, though some have since reopened.
Geary described the last 12-plus hours as particularly challenging for crews dealing with both storm damage and winter weather preparations.
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