WASHINGTON D.C (USA): President Joe Biden has approved a federal emergency declaration for 11 New York counties after historic snowfall buried the region over the weekend.
The storm set a state record for the most snowfall within a 24-hour period, with some parts of Erie County getting more than 6 feet of snow.
“Last night, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the State of New York and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a severe winter storm and snowstorm beginning on November 18, 2022, and continuing“, reads White House statement.
The President's emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts for residents who have been impacted.
The counties covered under the declaration are Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Jefferson, Lewis, Niagara, Oneida, Oswego, St. Lawrence and Wyoming.
New York is no stranger to dramatic lake-effect snow, which is caused by cool air picking up moisture from the warmer water, then releasing it in bands of windblown snow over land.
This month's storm is at least the worst in the state since November 2014.