Thirty-nine people died in Erie County, New York Historic Winter Storm Hits Buffalo
According to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the deaths included those found in cars, those found outdoors and cardiac events from shoveling or shoveling snow.
Monique Alexander
Casey McCarron, 26, poses with her mother, Monique Alexander, 52.
Courtesy of Casey McCarron
Among those killed was 52-year-old Monique Alexander, a Buffalo woman who loved her three grandchildren, said her daughter Casey McCarron.
McCarron told ABC News that Alexander went out on Christmas Eve and never returned.
“She never said where she was going, she said she would be back,” she said.
“My mother is the rock of our family,” McCarron said in a statement.
“You could count on her for anything, she was a caretaker every time someone needed one,” he said. “On holidays she would cook for neighbors or even strangers who knew no family because she cared so much.”
William Clay
William Clay, 56, died on December 24, 2022 in Buffalo, NY during the blizzard.
Courtesy of Sophia Clay
William Clay died on Dec. 24, his 56th birthday, his sister Sophia Clay told ABC News.
His sister said he was “an avid reader” and “very religious” and read his Bible daily.
“There are people in this world who can quote the Bible, but it’s not in their hearts — that’s one of those people who was in his heart. He spoke it, he lived it,” Sophia Clay said.
William Clay is survived by his family, including his son and two grandchildren.
“He was a great brother, he was a great grandfather, he was a great friend,” Sophia Clay said.
Melissa Morrison
Melissa Morrison, 46, was among the dead, her mother, Linda Addeo, told ABC News.
She has two sons aged 20 and 24.
“A very loving daughter and mother,” Morrison said via audio text.
Abdul Sharif
Photo provided by a relative of Abdul Sharif, who died on Saturday, December 24, just days before his 27th birthday (January 1).
Courtesy of Alli Sharif
Abdul Sharif, who died in the storm on Christmas Eve, would have turned 27 on January 1, his relative said.
His wife is pregnant and due in a week. The Buffalo News reported.
Sharibu, a Congolese refugee, was known to help others in the neighborhood, the newspaper reported.
Andal Taylor
Andelle Taylor, 22, died during the blizzard in Buffalo, NY
Courtesy of Domitia Brown
Antell Taylor, 22, got stuck in the snow while leaving work on Dec. 23, according to her sister, Domatia Brown. Taylor sent a video to the family group chat at midnight that night; The next morning, calls to Taylor went unanswered, and the family later learned he had died, Brown said.
Taylor, who grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, moved to Buffalo in the summer of 2021 to care for her father, Brown said.
“He was a very kind-hearted and loving person,” Brown said in a statement. “She went to take care of him, but she also built a career to take care of her family here in Charlotte. That was her main focus: go to school, help her dad… every chance she got, she came through. She could.”
ABC News’ Christopher Luft, Lena Camiletti and Laila Ferris contributed to this report.
