Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Clearing Away Buffalo's Deluge of Snow
Aired January 01, 2002 - 08:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Here in the U.S., the forces of nature are being felt in a different way, in Buffalo, New York, the problem, everyone knows, snow, too much of it.
Joseph Giambra is Buffalo's Commissioner of Public Works. He joins us now by phone to talk about the city's efforts to dig out from under seven feet of snow.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks for getting up on this New Year's Day to talk to us.
JOSEPH GIAMBRA, BUFFALO COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS: Good morning, Marty, and it's good to be with you.
SAVIDGE: How's the weather, and I mean that sincerely?
GIAMBRA: Well right now weather conditions are fine. There's no snow. We haven't actually had snow for about three days now, and temperatures in the mid-20s and no wind. That's important not to have wind.
SAVIDGE: Have you got -- you've got the major streets open and the major thorough ways clear?
GIAMBRA: All of our mains and secondaries are cleared. Most of our mains are cleared curb to curb and down to dry pavement. Our battle now is with side streets.
SAVIDGE: And what is the biggest problem you face aside from just seven feet of snow laying on the ground?
GIAMBRA: Well the problem is in this case that we have to actually remove the snow. We can't plow it because it's higher than our plow blades, so we have to go in with different types of equipment, front end loaders, et cetera, dump trucks and actually pick the snow up and take it out of the neighborhoods.
SAVIDGE: Where do you put all that snow?
GIAMBRA: We have a couple of dump sites throughout the city, but our two major sites are on our waterfront, and those sites are pretty big right now and filled with snow a couple of hundred feet high.
SAVIDGE: I mean do you -- I don't know if you can give us any sort of numbers, but the idea of tonnage or amount of snow that you are trying to move?
GIAMBRA: Well I couldn't give you a tonnage on that, but I'll tell you that the two main dump sites we have are about the size of two football fields and piled 100 feet high.
SAVIDGE: Now you've also received some help as far as people coming from other places to help dig you out.
GIAMBRA: Well we've had contractors come in from as far away as Connecticut and New Jersey and Baltimore, Maryland. We've also had help from neighboring cities, such as Syracuse, and even from Toronto across the border.
SAVIDGE: Now what has this done as far as your budget? And I mean this is just the beginning of the year for you, you could have a lot of snow to go.
GIAMBRA: Well, yes that's true. As far as the budget is concerned, we're in the middle of our fiscal year, but we do have a budget problem to begin with. This storm is going to cost us, I'm guessing over $10 million, but we're seeking the assistance of the federal and state governments to help us pay for this.
SAVIDGE: And I imagine you've probably buddied up pretty close to the weather forecasters. What are they saying for the short term as well as the long term for your winter?
GIAMBRA: Well short term, we're expecting some snow showers come the end of this week. Now snow showers is a -- kind of a broad term, and I really don't know yet exactly what that means. I hope it's going to be just a couple of flurries.
Long range, I haven't really heard a lot of what's going to happen long range for Buffalo. We're praying for a more mild winter after this.
SAVIDGE: Well, we've been watching the people of Buffalo cope with it. It's been amazing for all of us to see. We wish you well, and we hope you have blue skies...
GIAMBRA: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
SAVIDGE: ... in the year ahead.
Joseph Giambra, he is Buffalo's Commissioner of Public Works with the big dig ahead.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
