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As the US reels from a winter storm that has killed nearly 50 people nationwide, stories of hope and resilience have nonetheless emerged from America’s hardest hit region, western New York state.
This storm, which has resulted in 27 deaths around the city of Buffalo, brought hurricane-force winds and nearly four feet of snow in parts of the region, thwarting first responders’ emergency response and rescue efforts. “This is a war with mother nature, and she has been hitting us with everything she has,” New York’s governor Kathy Hochul said.
But amid the tragedy and deadly conditions, stories of endurance, survival and rescue have emerged. Good Samaritans took stranded travelers into their homes; strangers worked together to help a snow-trapped expectant mother through home birth.
A South Korean tour group, which was headed for Niagara Falls, found their van stuck in the snow outside Buffalo. Two members of the group knocked on the door of a nearby house, and asked for shovels.
The homeowners, Alexander and Andrea Campagna, invited the nine travelers and their tour van driver into their home; the group stayed there over the weekend, departing Sunday, according to the New York Times.
“It was kind of like fate,” said Pyeongtaek resident Yoseb Choi, who was with his wife, Claire, on the tour, and describing the Campagnas as “the kindest people I have ever met”.
