The Impossible Decisions That Faced Those Trapped in the Buffalo Storm


Abdul Sharifu left his house in Buffalo, N.Y., to go to the market to buy milk for his two young children. He hadn’t gotten far when his car got stuck in one of the deadliest blizzards in the history of the city.
Mr. Sharifu, a 26-year-old refugee from Congo, sat in his Toyota RAV4 with a dwindling supply of gas in his tank and called a friend to explain his plight, said Erieckson Kiza, a leader in the Congolese community. Mr. Sharifu, clad only in a thin tracksuit, told the friend he feared he would freeze when his gas ran out and the heat cut off. Waiting at home for his return was his wife who was nine months pregnant.

Mr. Sharifu had two options, Mr. Kiza said: wait for help or make a dash to shelter.

He chose the latter. Several hours later, he was found facedown in the snow, alive but barely breathing, Mr. Kiza said. He was pronounced dead a few hours later.

Close to his car were a police station and train station, as well as several buildings.

“I don’t know why he didn’t go in there,” Mr. Kiza said.
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