Long-term repairs still needed at BPS following Christmas blizzard

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – It’s been 17 months since the deadly Christmas blizzard and some schools in the City of Buffalo still haven’t gotten the long-term repairs they need from wind damage suffered during the storm.

Buffalo Schools say many of their buildings sustained significant damage from the blizzard.

The district says it’s working with FEMA to make those repairs.

“We’ve been in the process since the storm, this is the tail end, these are the last four projects and we are looking to wrap them up in short term,” said David Hills, the chief operating officer of Buffalo Schools.

According to the district’s Division of Plant Services and School Planning, City Honors, Community School, East High School and Lafayette High School still need long-term repairs

At City Honors, strong winds caused roof tiles to be blown off and damaged. Repairs are needed to ensure the roof is safe long-term. More roof work also needs to be done at Community School. At East High School, part of the facade was blown off, which needs to be fixed.

At Lafayette High, more roof work is needed due to more recent wind storms. Officials say the roof structure is compromised, allowing wildlife to get inside the roof. District officials say deep cleaning will be needed before the roof is repaired.

“These are four projects that we’ve been talking to FEMA about since the summer after the storm, and it’s work we’ll need to have a contractor do,” Hills said. “Since we’re going to need to have a contractor do it, FEMA had to do several years of approval review and now we need to submit it to State Ed for a review.”

The repairs are expected to cost more than $600,000 — money the district is looking to have reimbursed from FEMA. The district says FEMA has already provided Buffalo Schools with funding to recover from the blizzard and that more should be on the way.

Despite the damage, Buffalo Schools say school buildings remain safe for learning.

Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here .