National Grid technicians work in Buffalo, New York, on December 26, 2022. - Emergency crews in New York were scrambling on December 26, 2022, to rescue marooned residents from what authorities called the "blizzard of the century," a relentless storm that has left at least 25 dead in the state and is causing US Christmas travel chaos. (Photo by Joed Viera / AFP) (Photo by JOED VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
A 22-year-old Buffalo woman died in her car after being trapped for 18 hours while driving home from work during a blizzard over the holiday weekend – one of at least 28 killed killed in what New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called “the blizzard of the century.”
Anndel Taylor, who got trapped in her vehicle on Friday afternoon, shared videos with her sisters in North Carolina, with the last one being sent just after midnight.
Her final video showed her rolling down her ice-covered window as she speaks to a nearby van similarly stuck with its emergency lights on.
“She was telling my sister that she was scared,” one of Taylor’s sisters, Tomeshia Brown, told WSOC-TV.
Taylor’s family told the outlet that she was likely trapped in her car for at least 18 hours before authorities found her on Christmas Eve.
Taylor’s mother, Wanda Brown Steele, told the TV station that she had called 911 and was waiting for them at the time of her death.
“She called 911 and she was waiting for them,” her mom said.
But “everybody that tried to get to her got stuck,” Brown added.
“Fire department, police, everybody got stuck.”
Steele went on to ask why the “state that is known for snow” didn’t have emergency vehicles readily available to operate throughout the massive snowstorm.
Meanwhile, her sister had posted a message during the storm saying that they had the “whole (of) Buffalo” looking for Taylor, who had recently moved back to Upstate New York from Charlotte last year to help care for her father.
In a group chat, Taylor told her sisters that she had planned to sleep and then attempt to walk to safety if help did not arrive by the time she awoke, according to her mother.
Her mom then alerted relatives throughout the city to “go back out there again” and look for her, WSOC-TV reports.
“That’s when they busted open the window and seen that she was in there,” Taylor’s grieving mother said.
Taylor most likely died of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to her mom, who noted her car was still running and snow had blocked the exhaust pipes at the time of her death.
“The car was running, and the snow was still coming, so it blocked the pipes, the exhaust pipe,” she said. “Then after the car cut off, that’s when she iced up.”
Her passing comes soon before her 23rd birthday, the outlet reports.
She “still got presents under the tree” for Christmas,” her sister said.
Meanwhile, the family is currently attempting to raise funds to bring her body back to Charlotte, where they moved when Taylor was two.
As of Tuesday, an online fundraiser has raised $17,390 out of a $12,000 goal.
“We’re trying to get her here — because I want her here with me,” her mom said.
Those interested in donating to Taylor’s GoFundMe can do so here.
