Jan Wesner Childs
T.J. Lignos knew he shouldn't have been on the road in Buffalo Friday night, but hoped to make the short drive home from work before the blizzard moved in.
Lignos ended up stuck in his truck for 15 hours as Winter Storm Elliott howled around him. Winds gusted to 60 miles per hour. Wind chills dropped to minus 20 degrees. Snow fell at a rate of 2 to 3 inches an hour. At least 39 people have died in and around Buffalo as a result of the storm.
"Lots of cars, lots of cops, a lot of ambulances (were) stuck," Lignos said in a video interview Tuesday.
(MORE: Buffalo Blizzard Pushed City To 100 Inches This Season, A Record Snowy Start)
He called 911, but was told no one could get to him in those conditions. They advised him to do what he needed to survive.
"I got a little scared. I got a little choked up there," Lignos said.
"I just kept as calm as I could ... I kept getting out, trying to shovel myself out, but it wasn’t working, so I had to give up."
In this photo provided by the Twitter page of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, snow from the blizzard covers downtown Buffalo on Monday, Dec. 26, 2022.He ran his car engine some of the time, sitting like a pretzel on the heated seats to keep his feet warm. Family and friends advised him to stay put, rather than venturing away from whatever protection the car could provide. He thought about his mom, who he'd spoken to on the phone.
"I told her, you got to stay calm so I can stay calm," Lignos said.
"Thankfully this guy, he came up to my truck about 8 or 9 in the morning and he knocked and he said, 'Are you OK?'"
That started a chain of people helping, including a couple who invited Lignos into their nearby home for pizza, others who helped dig his truck out, and a ride on a four-wheeler because the truck was out of gas. The last bit of his journey home was on foot.
"I called my roommate – I was like, 'Hey I’m walking home. If I’m not home in a certain amount of time, you've got to come looking for me,'" Lignos recounted.
(MORE: Southwest Airlines Flight Delays Continue Long After Winter Storm Elliott)
When he finally made it, Lignos slept for about 15 hours. Waking up on Christmas Eve, he felt drawn to go out and do something.
"I woke up and I just felt like I had to do something. I was kind of pacing in my room and I know there’s the death toll that keeps rising, unfortunately ... I just felt like, I couldn’t sit home," Lignos said. "I just went. I didn’t know where I was going. I just headed into the city."
In this drone image, snow blankets a neighborhood Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022, in Cheektowaga, New York.He linked up with a friend and started responding to pleas for help on a Facebook page called "Buffalo Blizzard Response."
There was a woman who needed oxygen and another with diabetes. Lignos took them to local hospitals. He's also delivered food, ferried donations to a collection point at a local restaurant and picked up people trudging through the snow.
Others have joined in the effort. Two people came from as far away as Pennsylvania. A group of snowmobilers came from a neighboring town. All are strangers, like the ones who helped Lignos in the first place.
The fact that they have operated while a driving ban was in place in Buffalo wasn't lost on Lignos. He said police he encountered along the way have been encouraging. He said he understands the importance of staying out of the way of first responders and road crews, and encourages others to do the same.
"You've got to stop, be patient, or you’re going to make things worse," Lignos said.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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