BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — After a once-in-a-generation storm ravaged Western New York, many are left to deal with chiseling, shoveling and plowing out.
"This blizzard, this snow storm, this is real, like this is real real," Tymont Patton said.
Cars in the City of Buffalo are still stranded. Many are still trying to dig out.
"I'm out here shoveling trying to help other people get out," Jeffery Bradley, who was out shoveling, said.
High lift after high lift went through neighborhoods off of Broadway Street on Tuesday morning as the crews cleared out portions of East Buffalo.
"The first time I was able to step out of my house it was this tall I had to climb on my garage can slide down," Patton explained.
While some people started venturing out, Yemen's business owner was standing by for the community all day on Tuesday.
"We open up today for the community. It's free food in the neighborhood. We take care of the community all the time," the owner of Yemen's Restaurant said.
Not too far from there, a barber shop on Fillmore Avenue also became a beacon of light. Craig Elston, the owner of C&C Cuts, was there for the community during the storm.
"Come get shelter. Come charge your phone. Come let your family know that you're ok," Elston said.
Elston said he knew the risk saying open on Friday when whiteout conditions hit Western New York. Late that night, it was he and another customer when he said he saw a man outside pleading for his life.
"When he knocked on the door and I see how purple he was how red his face how irritated his skin was how it was blistering up I said, 'Something ain't right,'" he explained.
He brought the man inside his shop. He said it took seven hours for him to warm up. At that moment, Elston knew he would be a shelter for many in the community. He even went on social media, sharing that his shop was open.
"I just felt the need. What can I do to help? And that's what I did," he said.
Up to 30 strangers, who soon became like family, filled the shop. They celebrated the holiday and a Buffalo Bills win together. Some even slept on the barber chairs.
"I just feel for the people man I wish I could've done more," he added.
Elston became a bright light for many in this snow-stricken community.
"I just felt like it was just the right thing to do, to help people and if I was in tat situation I feel like people would do the same," he added.