Remembering the October Storm

BUFFALO, N.Y.(WIVB) - Six years ago, the October storm crashed through Western New York causing more than just a few broken tree branches and power outages.

If you were here for the storm, you were busy picking up the pieces after a freak, pre-winter storm buried Buffalo and its surrounding suburbs in heavy, wet snow, decimating our leafy landscape.

Jason Pennington from Kenmore said back in October of 2006, "We heard a giant snap and then boom, you know what I mean? Crazy weather."

Kenmore resident Mary Dolan told News 4 back in 2006, "The crackling, the falling, you could see the snow kind of boiling up from the ground. I was afraid to come out."

The fact the snow was coming didn't surprise meteorologists, but the *amount* of snow did, leading to one of the region's most destructive storms ever.

Parts of the region got as much as two feet of snow, leaving millions of trees damaged or destroyed; hundreds of thousands of households were left in the dark for days.

Officials knew back then, it would leave a lasting scar. In 2006, Buffalo Works Commissioner Joseph Giambra said, "A city like Buffalo that has, you know, so many mature trees, it's going to change the landscape of the city for quite a while to come."

But in true Buffalo fashion, the city rose up and in the wake of this devastation, two very active organizations were born.

Re-Tree Western New York is still working tirelessly to replace those destroyed trees.

Carvings for a Cause uses wood from destroyed trees for one of a kind creations.

Buffalo City Parks Commissioner Andrew Rabb says, "While we've caught up somewhat to the trees immediately lost to the storm, we're still seeing effects from that storm."

Although the storm was 6 years ago, it seems just like yesterday we all looked outside out windows that morning and saw nothing but destruction; destruction that we are still fixing today.