BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Pastor Al Robinson of Truth Urban Ministry in Lovejoy has been working tirelessly to save lives in his community since Friday.
“We were extracting people from their homes. They wouldn’t have made it,” he said after the power went out for hundreds in Lovejoy.
The church, Truth Urban Ministry was one of the only places with power in the area. Robinson, with the help of others used snowmobiles to get to people in need.
At one point he says 130 people were together in the church. The youngest, 9 months old, the oldest 92. They're still sheltering people as of Monday.
He says the problem they have faced, in an area with not a lot of food options, were stores ravaged by break-ins.
“We’re making the efforts to save lives, and they’re subtracting from our efforts,” Robinson said.
He said people had to bring in baby formula from Rochester to help.
“The reason we have a baby formula shortage is they’re stealing it, then boasting about it online,” he said of those taking advantage of the storm.
Robinson worries that this will further hurt the people of East Buffalo.
“These people, I don’t understand why they don’t care about their neighbor,” he said of thieves.
Pastor James Giles of Back to Basics Ministry says he is sad by what he’s seen.
“The number of people I’ve seen use going into stores and taking stuff. They didn’t just take things. They ravaged the store. So here we have more stores on the East Side of Buffalo that are not going to reopen.”
Buffalo Police say they’re aware of multiple reports of break-ins and are working to tame it.
“Looting when people are losing their lives is absolutely reprehensible,” said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. “They’re not looting foods and medicines, they’re just looting things they want.”
He went on to say, “These aren’t even people in distress. These are people that are taking advantage of a natural disaster and the suffering of many in our community.”
“They’re taking what they want from retailers, and also potentially putting those services at risk in the communities where they are looting.”
For Pastor Robinson, it’s all about trying to help thy neighbor.
“We have to commission people from Rochester to come because here on the East Side these things were taken from us,” Pastor Robinson said of the baby formula.
“We have to do a better job when things like this happen,” Pastor Giles said. “It’s not an opportunity to get stuff free.”
Save A Lot on Genesee Street in Buffalo says it will be closed for two to three weeks while it assesses damage done by break ins to the store. The store says it will be providing video footage to Buffalo Police when the disaster gets under control.
Several stores have been hit by break-ins related to the storm. This is Save a Lot on Genesee Street. @wkbw People who live around here tell me this only hurts this community and those who need emergency supplies the most. pic.twitter.com/bgLtO0Inoe
— Hannah Buehler (@HannahBuehler) December 26, 2022