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New York snowstorm strands motorists as icy temperatures grip US | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A storm dumped large piles of snow on parts of upstate New York, trapping residents in their homes and stranding motorists on roads, as temperatures in all 50 US states fell to freezing or below. | |
Even hardened Buffalo residents were caught off guard on Tuesday as more than 1.2 metres (4ft) of snow fell in parts of the city. Authorities said snow could fall to depths of more than 1.8 metres by Wednesday afternoon in the hardest-hit areas south of Buffalo, with another storm expected on Thursday. | |
Cold weather enveloped the entire country on Tuesday, leading to record-low temperatures more familiar to January than November. Racing winds and icy roads caused accidents, school closures and municipal operations from the midwest to the south. | |
In a region accustomed to highway-choking snowstorms, this is being called one of the worst in memory. Snow blown by strong winds forced the closing of a 132-mile stretch of the main highway across New York state. | |
The storm was blamed for at least six deaths in New York, New Hampshire and Michigan. | |
“We have tried to get out of our house, and we are lucky to be able to shovel so we can open the door,” said Linda Oakley, of Buffalo. “We’re just thinking that in case of an emergency we can at least get out the door. We can’t go any further.” | |
The snowstorm forced motorists in 150 vehicles, including a women’s basketball team, to ride out the onslaught in their vehicles. They waited for hours to be freed, with some waiting more than a day. The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, deployed 150 members of the national guard to help clear snow-clogged roads and remove abandoned vehicles. | |
By early Wednesday, a Thruway official said most but not all passenger vehicles had been cleared. | |
Bryce Foreback, 23, of Shicora, Pennsylvania, who became stuck in a long line of cars just south of Buffalo at about 10.30pm on Monday, said by phone 20 hours later: “It seemed like a nightmare. It just didn’t feel like it was going to end. I haven’t slept in like 30 hours and I’m just waiting to get out of here.” | |
Members of the Niagara University women’s basketball team, stuck in the snow on Tuesday night got so thirsty they drank melted snow, said coach Kendra Faustin, who was travelling with her one-year-old child. | |
The “lake-effect” snow created a stark divide: in downtown Buffalo and north of the city there was only a dusting , while in the south snow was everywhere. | |
In New Hampshire and elsewhere, icy roads led to accidents. Snowstorms in Michigan produced gale-force winds and as much as 46cm (18ins) of snow, and cancelled flights at the Grand Rapids airport. | |
In Atlanta, tourists Morten and Annette Larsen from Copenhagen said they were surprised by the -1C weather, as they took photos of a monument to the 1996 summer Olympics at Centennial Olympic Park. “It’s as cold here as it is in Denmark right now. We didn’t expect that,” Larsen said. | |