Texts between four sisters grew increasingly frantic when one of them was stuck in her car in the Buffalo, New York, blizzard and stopped responding to the others who lived hundreds of miles away in North Carolina.
Last weekend, a storm dumped more than 50 inches of snow in Buffalo, New York, as well as freezing temperatures and strong winds. Roads quickly became impassable and emergency personnel struggled to reach those in need.
One woman needing help was Anndel Taylor, a 22-year-old student nurse on her way home from work when her car got stuck in the snow on Friday. Taylor was one of at least 28 fatalities in Buffalo as a result of the storm.
As she waited hours for help, Taylor exchanged texts with her three sisters. One of the sisters later shared the text exchange on TikTok. Taylor shared videos of the storm with her sisters, one that showed her snow-encrusted window and zero visibility.
Just before midnight on Friday, Taylor told her sisters she was going to try to get some sleep. Her car was still running to keep her warm. She said she planned to walk to get help the next morning, even if the snow was deep.
Her last text to her sisters was a video of her rolling down her car window to show how high the snow had accumulated.
"Look now smh that's my stomach line jst about" she wrote, referencing the snow level.
The text was sent at 12:09 a.m. By morning, Taylor had stopped responding to her sisters.
"Are you okay??????" one sister asked her.
"She's not responding," another said.
"I called like 3 times," another said.
According to the New York Post, some of Taylor's family members finally reached her car and found her dead inside on Christmas Eve.
"She was laying back—she had her arms crossed and her foot up on the dashboard like she was peacefully asleep," Taylor's mother told the New York Post.
The was speculated in the story that Taylor died from carbon monoxide poisoning. With her car running to keep her warm and the quickly accumulating snow, it's possible the snow covered her exhaust pipe and led to the fatal poisoning.
Taylor had been stuck in the snow since 3 p.m. and died overnight. When she called police, Taylor wrote in texts that they got stuck trying to get to her. Some of the texts from the sisters criticized the City of Buffalo, which has been under fire for its response to the storm. Residents and Erie County officials, where Buffalo is located, have criticized Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown's approach to the storm.
"UNPREPARED !!! In a state known for it !" one sister said in a text to the other three.
Police were unable to reach her car until Christmas Day, so her stepbrothers and a volunteer traipsed through the snow to bring her body to the hospital, according to a GoFundMe page by Taylor's stepmother. The GoFundMe is raising money to transport Taylor's body back to North Carolina and bury her. It had raised nearly $15,000 by 11 a.m. Thursday.
Newsweek reached out to Taylor's family for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
