BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Training thunderstorms Thursday night, primarily in Northern Erie County from Amherst and Kenmore down to Western Wyoming County, left streets heavily flooded, and residents facing severe weather conditions for the second night in a row.
Severe flash flood warnings have been issued into the early hours on Friday for much of Erie and Wyoming Counties.
According to the National Weather Service, in one hour of time, 1.77 inches of rain were measured at the Buffalo Airport, marking the second greatest one-hour precipitation amount on record.
Courtesy Kimberly McQueary
“Truly, it’s been a tough 48 hours,” Amherst Town Supervisor Shawn Lavin said. “We can handle weather here in Western New York, but truly my hat’s off to a lot of our fire departments, our emergency management department, our highway department; it’s been a long 48 hours for them, so it’s really the employees of this town, and firefighters, who are stepping up and kind of helping the community both last night and today.”
Lavin advises residents to look out for one another and keep an eye on storm drains to prevent further flooding when possible.
“What I tell neighbors is if when the rain subsides and you see some flooding, if you can go look at your storm drain, who knows what kind of leaves have already fallen, or debris is in there that you can clean up,” Lavin said. “Be a good neighbor, help out, check on your neighbors.”
Lavin also urges residents who have to drive to find a different route should they encounter flooding.
“Even the smallest amount of water can kind of make the problem worse and your car stalls and now we’re sending out help for you, so please, if you’re seeing a flooded street, find a different path,” Lavin said.
More information on weather conditions can be found on wivb.com’s 4Warn Weather tab.
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Rachel Ross is a digital producer who joined WIVB in May 2026. Read more of her work at this link.
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