Western New York state braces for fresh wave of heavy snow; at least 7 dead

A Lake Effect snow storm with freezing temperatures produces a wall of snow travelling over Lake Erie into Buffalo, New York on Nov 18, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A Lake Effect snow storm with freezing temperatures produces a wall of snow travelling over Lake Erie into Buffalo, New York on Nov 18, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Heavy Lake Effect snow falls in Orchard Park, New York, on Nov 18, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Heavy Lake Effect snow falls and accumulates on a vehicle in the driveway of a home in Orchard Park, New York, on Nov 18, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Steven Gros shovels snow from outside his home in Orchard Park, New York, on Nov 18, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
This Nov 19, 2014 Nasa satellite photo shows cloud bands over the Great Lakes region where heavy lake effect snows have all but buried several New York state towns. -- PHOTO: AFP 
Trucks are parked in a lot off the Route 90 section of the New York State Thruway in the town of Cheektowaga near Buffalo, New York, on Nov 19, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
An abandon car marked by orange cones is buried under snow as a snowplow passes by in Buffalo, New York, on Nov 19, 2014. Western New York state braced for a fresh wave of heavy snow after a freakish storm swept off the Great Lakes and deposited as much as 1.5 m of snow, killing at least seven people and stranding motorists overnight. -- PHOTO: REUTERS 

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Western New York state braced for a fresh wave of heavy snow after a freakish storm swept off the Great Lakes and deposited as much as 1.5 m of snow, killing at least seven people and stranding motorists overnight.

The new bout of snow could bring one metre of snow in parts of Erie County, which includes the city of Buffalo.

"That's a year's worth of snow," said Deputy Erie County Executive Richard Tobe, noting a state of emergency remained in effect.

Driving was banned on many roads and 225 km of the New York State Thruway along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario were closed.

The storm inundated some areas, with snow falling at a rate of 13 cm per hour, while sprinkling only a bit of snow just a few kilometres away, said National Weather Service meteorologist David Thomas.

The disparity is typical of the so-called lake effect, which occurs when cold air moves across the relatively warm Great Lakes, drawing in moisture and dropping snowfall onshore, Thomas said. The phenomenon can create intense squalls but leave nearby locations virtually unscathed.

In south Buffalo, snowmobiles were being used to respond to emergency medical calls and rescue stranded motorists while some 5,000 tonnes of snow was removed from the area, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at a news conference.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for 10 counties, deploying National Guard troops to help residents.

To the west, ice on the Mississippi River from the cold blast forced the earliest winter closure of the shipping season on records which date back to 1969, the US Army Corps of Engineers said.

At least seven deaths were attributed to the storm in the north-east. Of those, the Erie County Sheriff's Department said a 46-year-old man was found in his car buried under about almost 5 m of snow while another victim died in a traffic accident and three people died from heart problems.

Erie County Health Commissioner Gale Burstein said an elderly man with a cardiac condition died when he could not be transported to a facility that could provide the care he needed. A 23-year-old man in New Hampshire died in a traffic accident also tied to the storm, state police said.

There were no details available about the seventh death.

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