White Death: The Blizzard of '77, Millenium Edition

by Erno Rossi

Book Overview

An oral and visual history of the only blizzard in American history declared a national disaster by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0920926037
• ISBN13: 9780920926031
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Seventy Seven Publishing
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Simplicity of the Horror

I bought this book because I read that the Candian post hard-core band Alexisonfire had used one of the images from the book as the cover to their album CRISIS, (Dine Alone Records). I am glad that I did. Being an Aussie and not comprehending snow at all didn't help me understand the hardship of snow and cold. But, this book did. The simplicity with which it is displayed, through direct recounts from the victims gave a heartfelt purity to my read. The author then went on to provide a short break from each personal voyage by adding facts and short snippets about that time in Canada (and the U.S.). As we say here in Aus, 'Do yourself a favour' and grab this book. It's a world away from anything most of us would ever have experienced. As Alexisonfire said in their lyric...'we got a crisis on our hands'. They did that winter, and you should experience it too.

I survived the Blizzard of '77

An incredible book! I was a teenager, safe inside my parents' house, when the blizzard hit Elma, NY, 23 miles east of Buffalo.Cut off from civilization (not even snowmobiles could access our road), I never heard the extraordinary tales that Rossi related -like the Buffalo Zoo animals running around the city! This, and Robert L. Smith's pictures, brought '77 back in full black and white - a LOT of white.Rossi also poignantly relates the losses that Western New York suffered from this disaster that still leave repercussions, such as the loss in faith in the federal government's benevolence and the huge number of abortions that year. It is no wonder to me that Western New York spawned a huge number of fundamentalist congregations to ease their pain. And it is no wonder to me that Dr. Slepian was killed in the religiopolitical war that followed.I've heard people down here in the Philadelphia area complain about this or that blizzard, but so far, NOTHING compares.

Blizzard of The Millennium

The Blizzard of '77(This column was first published in the December 27,1999 Buffalo News.) What was the major regional natural history event of the 20th century? No contest. Lake Erie froze over by December 14, 1976, an early record. This normally puts an end to the lake effect snowstorms created by winds picking up moisture from the lake surface, converting it to snow and dumping it when those winds reach shore. But that winter something different happened. It began to snow just after Christmas and a few inches accumulated almost every day through the next month. By late January snow depth in Buffalo was 30 to 35 inches and street plowing was already falling behind -- 33 of the city's 79 plows were in for repairs. More ominous, snow depth on the 10,000 square miles of Lake Erie surface was also almost three feet. Although the National Weather Service had posted blizzard warnings, that fateful Friday, January 28, 1977 started out quite pleasant. There was little wind and it wasn't too cold for late January. But suddenly, just before noon, the infamous Blizzard of '77 hit. The temperature quickly plummeted to near zero and the winds arrived with gusts peaking at over 70 miles per hour. This produced a wind chill that dropped almost off the chart to 60 below. Only about seven inches of new snow fell over the next several days, but western New York and nearby Canada were also inundated with those tons of snow blown in off Lake Erie. As one consequence, visibility remained at zero for the first 25 hours of the storm. Drivers found themselves being buried and many, surrounded by the whiteout, were forced to stay in their cars. Some of those contributed to the 29 death toll, dying of carbon monoxide poisoning or exposure. (In another episode carbon monoxide from a snow blower started in an enclosed garage killed not only the operator but his daughter in a nearby bedroom.) Hearing of people marooned in their cars, police struggled over drifts to bang on car roofs. They were relieved to receive no answer because they had no way of digging anyone out. Ordinary snow would not have been so bad. During this same period the east end of Lake Ontario received almost six feet, but theirs didn't pack the way it did in Buffalo. Here the wind was so strong that it broke up snow crystals and compressed them into drifts that were cement-like in quality. At the same time buildings acted like snow fences causing the drifts to accumulate in some places to 30 feet, enough to bury a house. The problem became more than the usual too few plows; now it was plows that could not penetrate the drifts. Some broke down, were quickly buried and themselves contributed to the difficulty of opening roads. The state's National Guard and Department of Transportation, the Army Corps of Engineers, nearby towns and commercial firms had to bring in earth moving equipment to handle the huge accumulation. Seven western New York counties were designated part of a ma

Babies and Blizzards

Does Uncle Sam need some Viagara? Or are Canadians just better than Americans at something other than hockey and health care? Erno Rossi raises this question in his best selling oral history of a major national disaster, White Death -The Blizzard of '77--Millennium Edition. Rossi says that Canadians appear to snuggle faster and more effectively than Americans during a cold weather disaster. The Canadian birthrate jumped an impressive 18% nine months after a winter hurricane called The Blizzard of '77. The American birthrate sputtered at 3%. Should Uncle Sam see his doctor ?The answer says Rossi might shock some people. But its all there in his White Death-The Blizzard of '77--Millennium Edition, ... Rossi will be talking about his book, the success of his new edition and how to save your life in such an emergency...

Canadian-American survival classic

Media ReleaseBlizzards and BabiesThe Toronto birthrate will surge in October and November of 1999 says Erno Rossi, author of the revised best seller, White Death-Blizzard of '77--Millennium Edition, a true and frightening oral history of the only blizzard declared a national disaster in Canada and the USA..Rossi's Canadian-American survival classic, shows an 18% jump in the Niagara birthrate 9 months after that winter hurricane . That blizzard of the century and millennium also buried Buffalo, killed 30 people and stranded thousands of people in cars, trucks and in the homes of strangers.But Buffalo showed only a 3% rise in the birth rate 9 months later compared to the 18% jump in Canadian Niagara. Rossi felt that he had discovered Canadian superiority in something other than health care, beer and hockey. But the 45% jump in the Buffalo abortion rate helped to explain the difference in birth rates.Rossi predicts that both the birth and abortion rates will be higher in Toronto because of the record snowfall there in January/99. People stranded and bored because of snow can find themselves very busy at things other than shoveling.Rossi self published the first edition of White Death 21 years ago when Toronto publishers rejected his manuscript, telling him to come back when he was famous. Rossi laughed all the way to the printers and since has sold tons of books as well as TV rights to Granada Television in England.First edition White Death books have sold on the Internet as rare, old books for $50 U.S. But many grandparents want these first edition books to be passed down through the family.The White Death-Millennium Edition has been updated from 50 photos to over 70.The book now contains letters to Rossi from the Queen, Prime Minister Trudeau, Premiere Davis of Ontario and President Carter at the White House. Rossi's own experience and photos are now included. The Millennium Edition will end the argument as to what community and country got the most snow.A former teacher of history, sociology and disaster survival, Rossi has a lot to teach people who want to save their lives in a disaster or get a successful book published.