Buffalo Residents Help More than 100 Travelers Find Safety from the Historic Snowstorm

Photo Courtesy of Joe Bradt The crowd of about 115 on Dec. 23 gathers for a photo in the Alabama Hotel

More than 100 found shelter from the blizzard at Alabama Hotel in Buffalo, NY

Helping travelers from the historic snowstorm

There are just a few of the thank-you notes on Google Review to the Alabama Hotel, a restaurant with a deceiving name, located in the small city of Basom between Buffalo and Rochester, New York. The restaurant offered a place to stay, just like a hotel, to some 100 people stranded by the biggest snowstorm in 45 years.

“We were heading to New York from Toronto and were stranded by the worst snowstorm. Joe from the “Alabama Hotel” came to the rescue and saved us.” “I was heading back home in Toronto and got stuck on the road. I don’t know what would have happened to us if it were not for Joe.”

The City of Buffalo is a passage for many tourists between Niagara Falls, Canada, and the heart of New York State. The restaurant owner Bonnie Woodward, manager Joe Bradt and the rest of the staff at the Alabama Hotel decided to help those stranded by a historic blizzard during the 2022 Christmas holidays when the number of people passing the area peaks. After preparing make-shift beds with restaurant chairs and warm coffee, they posted on Facebook inviting people who got stuck on the road and had nowhere to stay.

“One of the things I’m considering is taking some totes and filling them up with some supplies and blankets and things like that and putting them upstairs,” Joe said. “That way, if something like this were to happen again, we could be a little better prepared ourselves.”

Unexpected magic happened then. Neighbors started to bring blankets and sleeping bags to the restaurant along with food. Some residents even towed cars stuck in the snow to the Alabama Hotel with their vehicles and equipment. More than 100 people could find shelter for those 48 hours from December 23 to Christmas Eve. Those who were provided shelter first wiped the restaurant floor before they left so that those who came after could stay there warmly and comfortably.

Stranded travelers found safety from the blizzard at an unlikely location

“Craig Alexander from Alabama Holley Farms right across the street. He was back and forth with food all weekend. They were a big help in supplying food and stuff over the course of those two days. They brought over quite a bit of roast beef … and things like that,” Joe said. “One of our regular patrons, Brian Kotarski — he was here, and he was by my side for the whole 48 hours helping me out. He’s a local guy who’s always in here. He’s not a cook, he doesn’t work here. He would watch the bar area because we didn’t serve alcohol. He would watch the bar area so I could be in the kitchen cooking. He would serve people soda and water and things like that”

“The Genesee SnoPackers brought out the grooming machine that they usually use on the snowmobile trails, and they were going up and down the roads … The sheriff’s department and the state police, they were basically grooming the roads so those guys could get down those roads so they could get to those vehicles and rescue those people and bring them here.”

Joe posted on Facebook that he was with some 100 strangers and their kids from Ohio, Maryland, and California and that it was deeply moving to see strangers helping strangers. One stranded wrote on social media that this Christmas miracle could be well made into a movie.