ALBANY, N.Y. -- After weeks of making calls and writing emails to countless state agencies, lawmakers and the governor's office, 2 On Your Side traveled to the State Capitol in the search for the so-called "After-action report" related to last year's massive lake-effect storm.
In the days and weeks after 'Snowvember', Governor Andrew Cuomo's office and the Thruway Authority told reporters and lawmakers that the state would put together the report to find out what happened, what went wrong and what needed to change. Many questions surrounded the late closure of the Thruway, which led to dozens and dozens of drivers being stranded for more than 36 hours.
Twelve months later, it turns out that document doesn't exist, according to sources. Despite 2 On Your Side's repeated phone calls and emails, the governor's press office never even responded to our many inquiries.
Despite there being no written document, the state agencies that handle emergency preparedness told 2 On Your Side big changes have been made since last winter, many in direct response to the storm.
Department of Transportation:
- $50 million in new equipment
- Buffalo Division gets 6 of the new "tow plows" that enable one DOT driver to clear two highway lanes at once
- Memorandum of Understanding with Thruway Authority to share resources and personnel
- GPS in all 181 snow plows in WNY region as well as many other emergency vehicles
- 34 new emergency gates installed in WNY region
- Special winter emergency planning meetings and mock exercises
New York State Thruway Authority:
- 16 new emergency gates in WNY region
- Planning and specific protocol for preemptive Thruway closure
- New staff training
- All 208 mainline plow trucks are operational
- All 208 mainline plow trucks able to handle new salt mixture to handle temperatures as low as 7°
- Living fence has grown to useful height to prevent some snow drifts
Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services & Governor's Office:
- NY Responds system, including centralized computer system for emergency management, now up and running
- 80,000 people have been trained in Citizen Preparedness Corps
- NYS Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) protocols for state-local coordination
- Mesonet weather system should be complete by end of 2016
