Buffalo digs out and stranded schoolchildren and workers reach home

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - The National Guard was sent in Tuesday to help the city dig out after a surprise 2-foot snowstorm trapped motorists in their cars and stranded thousands of workers and schoolchildren overnight at offices, supermarkets, City Hall and restaurants.

''It's like an army just came through and just started hitting us with snow, that's how everything looks,'' said 12-year-old Journey Cooper, who spent the night at a hotel. He was eager to get home: ''I need to get me washed up and get some new clothes on.''

Late Tuesday, Mayor Anthony Masiello said the 2,500 students stranded by the storm were safely home and won't have to return to school until after the Thanksgiving break. He also lifted a ban on non-essential driving, though city offices will remain closed Wednesday.

The mayor said there were no serious injuries during the storm.

The Buffalo Niagara International Airport reopened Tuesday night, though up to 5 inches of snow were predicted in the area. A 65-mile westbound section of Interstate 90 remained closed between Buffalo and Rochester as authorities tried to remove abandoned vehicles.

Monday's snowfall was Buffalo's third-highest total for any 24-hour period and it brought the amount so far this month to more than 40 inches.

Gov. George Pataki declared a state of emergency for Erie County and the city, making state resources available to help with the cleanup.

Prison inmates on work-release programs were enlisted to dig out fire hydrants, street corners and sidewalks. National Guardsmen used Humvees and other four-wheel-drive vehicles to deliver blankets, water and food.

Buffalo is accustomed to astonishing amounts of snow from ''lake effect'' storms, which pick up moisture from Lake Erie. But the timing of this storm caught the city off-guard.

The storm hit its peak in the middle of the afternoon. Many businesses sent employees home early, and everyone hit the slippery streets at once.

''It took an hour to move a few steps,'' said Bonni Cascio, who had to take shelter for the night inside a Holiday Inn lobby.

The students who finally got home Tuesday had been stranded in stuck buses or hadn't even bothered leaving school buildings in the storm.

''They've been warm, they've been well fed, they were a lot happier, I'm sure, than many of you parents were,'' Superintendent Marion Canedo assured parents.

Two busloads of children spent the night at the local FBI building, and workers went out on snowmobiles to pick up pizzas for them.

In Buffalo, Daniel Tobin spent the night under his desk at HSBC Bank. ''I'm a little stiff,'' he said Tuesday morning.

''We slept on cots and the coats were our blankets,'' said 5-year-old Alexandra Morgan, who spent the night at the bank's day care center after her school bus got stuck outside.

Jennifer Kingston and Mary Anne Johnson met while they were stranded on a highway off-ramp. They spent the night in Kingston's car and by morning were best of friends.

''We talked for hours. I can tell you anything about her,'' Kingston said.

Jay Pereira spent the night in his Federal Express truck and was visited by people who offered him food, coffee and the use of their cellular phones. ''A lot of people turned out to be really decent folks,'' he said.

And Gloria Schiabone, who is unable to walk, said a bystander who identified himself only as ''Chris or something'' carried her from her stuck van to the Holiday Inn lobby, then trudged off to find her a wheelchair.

''It was real nice of him. He didn't have to do that,'' Schiabone said.

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