BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The families of two people who died in the December 2022 blizzard in Buffalo have sued the city and Erie County, alleging that the local governments were not prepared to deal with the storm and did not give proper warnings before the storm.

Abdul Sharifu and Ledrise Curry were two of 46 people in Erie County who died in the storm.

Sharifu, 26, died on Christmas Eve 2022 when he left his home to purchase groceries for a neighbor, while Curry’s family says she died from an asthma attack after emergency services were not able to get to her home on Newburgh Avenue “as a result of unattended road conditions” on Dec. 26, 2022.

The families allege that a travel ban, which was not issued until around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, was not announced early enough, after visibility was reported as “near zero” earlier that morning.

The families also allege that proper warnings were not given to those whose primary language is not English. The lawsuit reads “approximately 17% of Buffalo residents do not speak English as their primary language and have limited ability to read, speak, write or understand English … defendants failed to adequately plan for notifying Limited English Proficiency residents and subsequently failed to adequately warn such vulnerable citizens.”

The suit claims that only 16% of Buffalo residents had the city’s BUFFALERT text message alert system, saying that many residents left their homes without knowing the storm’s severity.

That has since been remedied by the county, with a new emergency alert system used throughout Erie County in the event of severe weather.

The storm, which lasted multiple days in December 2022, brought multiple feet of snow to Buffalo’s metro area as well as wind gusts that exceeded 70 miles per hour.

The families are seeking monetary awards as well as other punitive awards. Both the city and the county said they will not comment on pending litigation.