Buffalo friends take to streets on snowmobiles to rescue locals stranded in deadly storm: 'Needed to help'
Buffalo man spent Christmas weekend on his snowmobile rescuing locals from winter storm
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A group of friends in Buffalo took to the streets on their snowmobiles to save dozens of stranded residents as one of the most severe winter storms in the region's recorded history left thousands without heat or shelter.
The death toll of Winter Storm Elliott reached 27 in Buffalo on Tuesday with many residents freezing to death as white-out conditions stranded residents in their cars and caused power outages for thousands.
After learning about the extent of the devastation on the news, Buffalo resident William Kless sprung into action, gathering a group of friends with snowmobiles to provide rescue assistance to elderly residents and families with children.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The high wind blows the snow across a neighborhood in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022 in Buffalo, N.Y. A battering winter storm has knocked out power to 1.7 million homes and businesses across the United States on Saturday. ((AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson))
In what turned into a three-day "nonstop" effort, Kless and his crew spent Christmas weekend transporting locals stuck in their cars and bitter cold homes to a church converted into a shelter, fighting raging winds and heavy snowfall along the way.
"When we took the snowmobiles out, me and my buddies, we saw the reaching-out posts. We expected just to get a few done, and it just turned into a three-day thing…so many people in need of just food and shelter and warmth, and we got so many people back and forth," Kless told Fox News on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While refueling his snowmobile, Kless bumped into Eddie Porter, a local who left his home a day earlier to help residents on Buffalo's East Side when the storm took a turn for the worse, leaving him and his brother stranded inside a gas station for nearly 19 hours, he told WKBW Buffalo.
"We didn't know what we were going to do," Porter told the outlet. "We were willing to give anything, put up posts, give money. I was willing to give all the money I had to get back here to my family."
Kless promised to come back for Porter after transporting a group of other residents stranded nearby.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A resident leaves a local corner store in Buffalo, New York, on December 26, 2022, as many major grocery stores remained closed. (JOED VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
"Eddie really sticks with me," Kless recalled on "The Story." "[I said] As soon as I get back taking these people right here, I’ll be right back. So I made a promise to everyone that was in need. Once that opened up the door right there with Eddie, everybody in the store was like ‘can you get me here, can you get me there’ and it turned into around and around so many times."
Porter said at that moment, he was certain Kless was an "angel" sent by "God."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kless and his crew managed to transport over 20 people to the Church in Buffalo, saving dozens from the storm's life-threatening impact. Kless said he was fortunate to help one man in need of dialysis get back home to receive treatment after spending hours stranded in his car.
Emergency crews in New York were scrambling on December 26, 2022, to rescue marooned residents from what authorities called the "blizzard of the century." (JOED VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Asked what motivated him to keep going throughout the three-day ordeal, Kless said plainly, "This is who I am in general. I help people out on the daily."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Knowing so many people needed so much help and I could help somebody that needed dialysis like that to that extent…I needed to help…" he told Fox News, later adding, "I want to thank all my friends for helping out too. We had a good crew there."