BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - As the city of Buffalo endured the worst of the winter bomb cyclone, a local snowmobile club was busy rescuing people and getting essential workers to their jobs.Feet of snow are no match for a giant snow groomer.
“It can go through anything. It’s just made for it, and I can go through 8, 10-foot drifts and it’s just like cutting butter,” said Rich McNamara of the Northern Erie Sno Seekers snowmobile club.
Friday night when the snow started to fall, club members knew western New Yorkers needed them.
“We got this machine, the groomer, took it out there and rescued people until about 3 in the morning.” McNamara said.
Dozens have died in the historic winter storm. (CNN, Spectrum News Buffalo, New York State Police, NYSDOT Western NY, Erie County, City of Hamburg)
They worked along Main Street in Clarence, helping anyone they came across. The snowmobile club rescued more than 100 people during the storm.
“Five kids, three state troopers, three EMT guys. It was bad. Worst I’ve ever seen it,” McNamara said.
After rescuing all the stranded travelers Friday night, on Saturday, the calls started coming in from essential workers, doctors and nurses who knew this ride might be the only one they could get to get in and relieve other people.
“Where I live it hadn’t stopped snowing,” said Shealyn McCoy, an ICU nurse at Buffalo General Hospital.
When she got up Sunday morning to get to her shift, she took one look outside and knew she’d never make it.
“So I put out a status on Instagram and said, ‘Is there anybody who can pick up a couple coworkers and I from Transit?’” McCoy said.
That’s when she was connected with McNamara and the snowmobile club.
He picked her and two of her coworkers up and drove them in the groomer to the hospital so other nurses could get a break.
“Don’t’ get me wrong; it’s important to relieve any nurse at any point. Us getting there, we had coworkers that were crying tears of joy when they saw us coming through the doors. It was that level of relief,” McCoy said.
She said she’ll never forget this storm and the help that came from people like McNamara.
“We like to give back. The snowmobile club, we do a lot. And we have an opportunity to do something. We can get around better than anybody else out there,” McNamara said.
“The epitome of the city of good neighbors. He said we can do what we do and that’s it - but we have to find ways to be in service of others, and that really hit home because that’s what these guys are doing, going out and doing whatever they can to save people’s lives,” McCoy said.
