UB Provides Community with Assistance, Expertise in Wake of Storm

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo is reaching out with assistance to areas of Buffalo Niagara impacted by power outages and storm-related damage and challenges.

"There still are wide-ranging needs in local communities and we are working with organizations and individuals to identify areas in which UB's resources and expertise can help address critical needs," said Marsha S. Henderson, UB vice president for external affairs.

"At this very trying time, we are mobilizing our resources to help solve acute needs, as well as areas where we can be part of long-term solutions. UB is an integral part of the community and wants to assist our community partners in areas where we can lend a hand and have an impact."

Henderson noted that those UB has reached out to the governments of the City of Buffalo, Town of Amherst and Erie County; the Buffalo Public Schools; the three school districts in the Town of Amherst; state elected officials and community organizations.

In the aftermath of extended power outages and flooding, UB has provided critical refrigeration and freezer space and information technology expertise to area schools, as well as donated materials.

UB's athletics facilities have been made available for high-school and community football games that otherwise would be cancelled.

UB's North (Amherst) Campus has been offered as a staging area for the National Guard and a temporary site for disposal of trees and downed tree limbs by municipal clean-up crews.

The university also loaned a power generator to the Town of Amherst water pumping station.

Student volunteers are a major part of UB's post-storm outreach to the community. For example, members of the Graduate Planning Student Association in the School of Architecture and Planning and UB engineering students will partner on Saturday with the Street Synergy Community Association to help clear downed tree limbs on properties in neighborhoods along Bailey Avenue.

The undergraduate Student Association (SA), which organized approximately 75 students to participate in University Heights neighborhood clean-up efforts in the immediate aftermath of the

snowstorm, is working with the university to marshal the volunteer services of hundreds of students to assist the Olmsted Parks Conservancy on Saturday with efforts to clear brush and downed tree limbs in Delaware Park. Clearing the debris will allow experts to more accurately assess the damage to the parks and assist in development of a recovery strategy.

UB's Office of Student Affairs will assist in providing the student volunteers with transportation, food/drink, work gloves, and simple hand tools, as well as organizing work crews.

The Urban Design Project in the UB School of Architecture and Planning also will play a critical role in assisting the Olmsted Parks Conservancy in addressing the damage to the majestic trees in Buffalo parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The project will align comprehensive tree inventory work previously conducted by the conservancy with new aerial photography and proposed long-range plans. This work will form a base that then will be used to model graphically the extent of damage to the parks and parkway system in both GIS and 3-D simulations and to the setting of priorities for reforestation.

"The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy greatly appreciates the leadership of the University at Buffalo and the efforts of its students," said Johnathan Holifield, chief executive officer of the conservancy. "UB's intellectual and human resources are critical for Buffalo's immediate recovery, as well as for helping our community develop and implement long-term restoration plans going forward."

UB is providing the Amherst Central School District with critical refrigeration and freezer space for food, as well as information technology expertise.

"There was an immediate response to the crisis from UB's Office of Government and Community Relations," said Paul Wietig, the district's acting superintendent. "We are taking the university up on many of its offers and are in daily contact with UB officials."

UB also is offering use of its all-weather athletics fields for high school athletics events that otherwise might be cancelled. A case in point is a football game between Sweet Home and Starpoint high schools to be played at 2 p.m. Sunday in UB Stadium. UB also offered use of its facilities for this evening's annual "T-NT" football match-up between archrivals Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, which now is being played as originally scheduled.

"The University at Buffalo has always been a terrific neighbor of Sweet Home Central Schools," said Superintendent Geoffrey Hicks. "Its willingness to help has alleviated several scheduling issues, particularly in athletics, that we and other districts have experienced as a result of the storm."

In other areas, efforts are underway at the School of Law to provide legal assistance, in conjunction with the City of Buffalo's corporation counsel, to low-income Buffalo residents to process claims and apply for governmental assistance in the storm's aftermath. In addition, UB has offered use of a phone bank to trained community volunteers to assist with non-emergency storm relief efforts.

UB's Center for the Arts offered community residents seeking a reprieve from the storm's aftermath free tickets to a performance, "Fès Festival of World Sacred Music," held Tuesday evening in its Mainstage Theatre.