This December we’ll be two years removed from the most significant blizzard to affect western New York since 1977. But my team is still haunted by what we experienced during the deadly five-day storm Dec. 23-28, 2022. As we inch close to winter, I’m hoping that my team will continue to put the trauma of the deadly "once-in-ageneration" storm we experienced behind us and cross our fingers for a "normal" Buffalo winter.

Not just another blizzard

It’s Buffalo—getting 6 to 7 feet of snow is manageable. We work for days and are used to Lake Effect. My team gets that. But you know that after you dig out you get to return to a warm home, your family is safe, and food and water can easily be found.

I’ve been around this industry my whole life and the 2022 event was like nothing I’d ever seen. It was terrifying.

Strong winds (with gusts up to 79 mph), plummeting temperatures and heavy Lake Effect snow produced over 35 consecutive hours of blizzard conditions. The snowfall itself was only 4 feet, but it was paralyzing. Roads were closed. Power was out. People were freezing to death in their homes or from getting out of their cars and becoming buried in the snow. And if you called 911, no one was coming.

Traumatic effects on our team

The enormity of the storm was the difference. We had 100 team members worried about their families, afraid of getting stuck and sleeping in clients’ buildings because there was no way to get back to the shop.

I had guys in loaders and trucks saying "I’m going to die out here" because they couldn’t see an inch in front of their face, and God forbid if they had to get out of the equipment. They couldn’t go home. Stores were closed for a week and people were running out of food—Door Dash certainly wasn’t making a run.

Once the storm had ended and cleanup began, it was eerie to drive by cars with caution tape tied to the mirror. It meant that either the police, firefighters or National Guard had checked to make sure no one had died. Our people were traumatized by it.

Looking back, I didn’t realize the impact that storm had on the mental well-being of the team. Amid the death and destruction, they saw things they can never unsee. Even last year when significant snow was forecasted, there was apprehension. You’re always anxious before a storm but this was a visceral reaction: "I don’t want to go through this again."

Lessons learned

Because that massive storm was forecasted, we were prepared, but not truly prepared because it was so out of the norm of reality. The experience resulted in several changes to how we brace for an event:

Emergency kits. It’s a simple best practice to have emergency kits prepared. We had those, but what we realized is they might need to last for a week. Especially for food. If you can’t get anything else to eat for four days, what’s your plan?

Hotels. Our use of hotels to stage team members has grown. They are instructed to bring a bag with necessities and changes of clothes so they can go to the hotel and shower and nap before going back out into the field.

Communication. We added additional layers of pre-storm communication with clients.

Fuel. We increased fuel storage at all of our facilities in the event gas stations are ever closed for extended days.

Counseling. In hindsight, we should have had mental health professionals available to provide assistance. We didn’t because the effects of the event didn’t really surface until much later; but if it were to happen again, I certainly would.

A bright spot in darkness

We pride ourselves on plowing snow and taking care of our customers. When we were able to move equipment, we had to triage who we serviced first. For our top-tier customers who needed us the most, we were there for them in a huge way.

They held appreciation lunches for us and there was a lot of goodwill shown to the team. To hear our clients say "Your work saved lives"—that positive feedback likely saved more of my people from getting out of the business altogether.

We also saw how essential our work is when the National Guard commandeered one of our loaders and had them plow through the snow to get to a woman in labor—amid all of the trauma, life goes on. As traumatic as it was and something we hope never happens again, this is the profession we have chosen. We learn from it and plow forward.

Jim Hornung Jr., CSP, is president of Elbers Landscape Service in Buffalo, NY. Contact him at jhornungjr@elberslandscape.com.