File:Dollar General store with boarded windows looted during December 2022 blizzard, Main Street, Buffalo, New York - 20221229.jpg

English: Plywood boards cover the windows of a Dollar General store on Main Street in Buffalo, New York in the aftermath of a December 2022 blizzard that brought four feet of snow, hurricane-force winds and whiteout conditions to the city: in the words of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, "the worst storm in [the] community's history, surpassing the Blizzard of '77". That looting occurred during the blizzard is undisputed, but the extent of it was not immediately, and likely never will be, completely certain. Initial reports by the media and elected officials, claiming that such incidents were few in number and isolated, were quickly debunked by the release of various clips of amateur cell phone video and surveillance camera footage which made clear that looting was far more widespread. However, many of the more lurid stories making the rounds on social media, including reports of attempted arson and acts of violence committed by looters against individuals sheltering inside the stores, were unsubstantiated and likely exaggerated. Deliberate misinformation, too, was rife, such as a widely shared video clip depicting the violent ransacking of what was purported to be a Buffalo-area Walmart, but was later proven to have been filmed in Philadelphia during the George Floyd protests two years earlier. Complicating the task of assessing the situation post facto was the frequent uncertainty around whether windows and doors such as those depicted here may have been boarded up beforehand as a preventative measure, or whether damage to any given property was the result of vandalism as opposed to high winds, blowing debris, or other weather-related factors.