Buffalo Snowstorm Strands Children

Hundreds of schoolchildren were forced to spend Monday night at supermarkets, restaurants and community centers after a powerful storm paralyzed the city with 2 feet of snow.

About 2,000 students were expected to be stranded all night, authorities estimated. School officials stressed that all children were safe and being cared for, but some parents were frantic.

“I’m calling everybody I know and everybody’s phone is busy,” said Gregory Ipolito, who was trying to locate his 8-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter six hours after they boarded separate school buses to go home Monday afternoon. He knew his children would be dropped off at a safe place, but he did not know where.

“I just want to know where the heck they are,” said Ipolito, himself stranded at The Buffalo News, where he works in advertising. “I’ve never not known where they are. Now I don’t know where both of them are at the same time, so that’s double anxiety.”

About 25 inches of snow fell Monday, the third-highest total for any 24-hour period in the history of this winter-hardened city. More than 40 inches have fallen this month.

With streets blocked by abandoned and stuck cars and buses, Mayor Anthony Masiello declared a state of emergency and said driving would be banned after midnight, effectively shutting down the city for business today.

“The problem is getting our snowplows out,” Masiello said. “The problem we’re having is the same problem the motorists are having.”

School bus drivers were told to take children to the nearest public building, including supermarkets, City Hall, hospitals, restaurants and government offices. It took hours for buses to inch their way through the snow and deliver the children.