Historic rainfall hits western New York

By: Katie Dusza, Managing Editor Last Thursday, western New York faced torrential downpour, severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and tornadoes. According to WKBW, Buffalo saw 3.07 inches of rain which fell in the span of two hours. This beat the previous record of 1.73 inches. 

One of the hardest hit places in Buffalo was Hertel Ave. Many businesses experienced great amounts of damage. Deputy Mayor Benjamin Swanekamp announced an emergency trash pick up, which was conducted on Sept. 7th. "Many people got more than two feet of water in their basements, so I imagine a lot of ruined debris, furniture in their basements people wanna get rid of," he said. 

On Friday, Sept. 11th, the Hertel Business Association is hosting a live music rally to support the millions of dollars of damage that came from the flooding. 

Monroe, Genesee, Orleans and Livingston counties all had tornado warnings in place. There were multiple tornado sightings, however, none of them are confirmed to have touched down. SUNY Geneseo student and resident Rachel Conley recalls, “I didn’t think it was that serious until I saw the clouds in the tunnel forming and I started to panic,” regarding the extreme weather. The photo below shows the view from Conley’s on campus apartment during the storm.