Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "Just hold on," shouts a Buffalo Police officer shortly after 7pm on Christmas Eve as he responds to people stranded in a building near Fuhrmann Boulevard and Ship Canal Parkway. The blizzard outside is raging as the officer makes his way to the building.
As the officer finally gets inside the building, someone tells him, "There are eight of us." All eight are directed to get into two trucks. The officer then walks ahead of both trucks, leading them by flashlight, until they eventually get to the station house for food and shelter.
The Fuhrmann Boulevard incident is just one of several incidents caught on bodycam video during the blizzard conditions and the video was released by Buffalo Police late Thursday.
At 9:33pm officers respond to a stranded motorist call. Video shows one officer carrying the motorist's dog to his patrol car. In the video you can see a plow truck pull out ahead of the patrol vehicle to lead it, which was the only viable way to travel at that time. The motorist and her dog were then returned home.
"I'm so happy to see you," screams a woman as an officer approached her vehicle in the blizzard conditions. The woman explained how long she had been stuck on the road and the officer asks, "Are you in a medical emergency?" The woman cried n response, "I'm having chest pains." She had already called for an ambulance when the officer came upon her, but emergency response had been severely curtailed or prevented at the height of the storm.
On Friday, December 23rd, the day the storm began and led to blizzard conditions that stranded motorists in the streets, officers can be seen responding to a call but unable find the complainant. The conditions are already making it very difficult to work outdoors.
Later on the 23rd, at 6:33pm, officers respond to a stranded motorist call. The actions of both officers are shown as they work in different ways to assist. The passenger officer's video then extends further as they both eventually get the stranded motorist to Buffalo General Hospital.
At 6:43pm, while responding to a stranded motorist call, an officer finds a woman in the middle of the street. The officer gets her to safety, then checks the vehicle of his initial call. The officer confirms the stranded motorist is no longer in the vehicle and then brings the woman in his car to the station house for safety.
Later, at 6:53pm, officers responded to a family of stranded motorists. One officer carries a child to his patrol car. Three people are rescued.
At least 46 deaths in Erie County have been attributed to the ferocious blizzard that struck the Buffalo metro area December 23rd and extended into Christmas Day.